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ArcelorMittal Ostrava Supports Metallurgy and Engineering Students
04/06/2009 - ArcelorMittal Ostrava encourages students enrolled in metallurgy- and engineering-oriented secondary and tertiary education in its region by providing both financial and practical support.
ArcelorMittal Ostrava is encouraging students enrolled in metallurgy- and engineering-oriented secondary and tertiary education in its region by providing both financial and practical support.
ArcelorMittal Ostrava employees are taking on the role of consultant to help students with technical projects and tutor them in practical lessons regarding company operations. “Even though steelmaking companies are facing tough times these days, it is necessary to think about the future,” said ArcelorMittal Ostrava’s HR Director, Ctirad Lolek.
“At the moment, our experts are consultants in 31 technical projects, 10 of which are diploma projects, 18 are bachelor-degree theses and 3 are doctoral-degree dissertations,” explained Lolek.
In addition to the consultancy work, company employees also give practical lessons to university students, with six such students involved in the current term.
“But it is also students of secondary technical and vocational schools that can gain working experience in our operations,” continued Lolek. “In this term we have eleven such students, among whom are our employees´ children, too. This shows that our people are satisfied with their work in our company and they want the future of their children to be connected with this company as well,” said Lolek.
Lolek noted that over the year ArcelorMittal Ostrava is contacted by representatives of schools asking the company to enable educational excursions. “We have organized educational excursions in individual production plants for the secondary technical school of metallurgy in Frýdek Místek,” said Lolek. “This year we have had 42 students who have taken part in the excursions within their working experience program.”
In addition to the practical help, ArcelorMittal Ostrava also provides financial support to a number of secondary schools. In December, the company presented a cheque worth 1.718 million crowns to the principal of the secondary school in Ostrava–Kunčice, František Řepka. The money will help to support of practical education. At the moment the school registers about 1200 pupils 150 of whom are being trained for their future work at ArcelorMittal Ostrava or its subsidiary ArcelorMittal Tubular Products Ostrava.
“It is important that ArcelorMittal Ostrava has been our partner for many years. The company has supported our school for the fiftieth year in a row now,” said Řepka. “This seems to be quite a unique phenomenon in the Czech Republic.”
Řepka noted that ArcelorMittal Ostrava also provides the school’s pupils with scholarship of 500 to 4000 crowns, with about 130 pupils currently receiving the scholarship. Students can also earn money each month during their internship at the company operations.
ArcelorMittal Ostrava a.s., the largest steel company in the Czech Republic, produces more than 3 million tonnes of steel annually and exports approximately 60% of its output to more than 80 countries all over the world. The company has 6600 employees; the total number of employees including the subsidiaries is more than 9300. Its major shareholders are Mittal Steel Holdings A. G. (71.579%), Harvton Investment Ltd. (13.881%) and the Ministry of Finance (10.969%). In the fiscal year of 2007 (which ended on February 28, 2008), the company generated a consolidated profit (after taxation) of CZK 9.2 billion. ArcelorMittal Ostrava is a part of ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel company.
