Ella Martin has a lot on her plate.
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The Year 11 Nowra High School student is also a first year school-based electrical apprentice, working with Simmark in Nowra and training at the TAFE campus in Bomaderry.
But with a growing shortage of electricians across the country, her future is bright.
Ella said the loved the challenge of working with electrical systems, circuits and components.
"It might sound strange, but I love how nothing made sense until I learnt it," she said.
Ella was among several electrical apprentices talking to Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Senator Jenny McAllister, and Federal Member for Gilmore, Fiona Phillips, at TAFE on Thursday, May 23.
With the Federal Government announcing more TAFE courses were being made available free of charge, the students spoke about the wide rage and specialisations available within the electrical field - including air conditioning, optic fibre and solar.
While he worked in solar power, Oliver Macken of Vincentia said there were plenty of options.
"Once you've got your foot in the door there's a lot of opportunities that present themselves, once your got the broad qualifications you can go off and do niche things," he said.
"I've had cousins and relatives go through and while doing their trades they get other qualifications."
Mr Macken said he was a big fan of the fee-free TAFE training, which meant students did not have to go into debt or scratch around to find the money to cover the costs of their education.
Head teacher of electrical trades at Nowra, Andrew Oliphant, said more fee-free courses meant "our employers will be able to continue to employ apprentices without the burden of fees, in a trade that is in high demand".
"Electricians are in high demand for a range of tasks," he said, including micro hydro, solar, fuel cells and charging systems for electric cars.
However the multi-skilled nature of the trade made it difficult for teachers, Mr Oliphant said.
"It's difficult for us to maintain our currency in that as teachers, because ultimately we have to be current in that, so you will find that every electrician in this building runs their own business outside not to compete with the employers, but simply to maintain our currency," he said.
A growth in student number also presented challenges in finding enough room and equipment, he said.
Ms McAllister said the shortages were being addressed.
"Our last budget included a $90 million allocation so that we can expand the facilities that are available and upgrade them so that students have the training and the necessary technologies, and also expand and turbo-charge the resources for trainers and assessors so that we have the staff that we need to do this work," she said.
"We're seeing very significant growth in demand for trades courses, and it reflects the projected growth in demand for these professions, Jobs and Skills Australia expects that we will need as many as 30,000 new electricians by 2030," Ms McAllister said.
Mrs Phillips said there was also an opportunity to expand training into new areas on the South Coast.
"There's more opportunities to grow electrical further down the coast at Moruya as well," she said.