The course will help teach women plumbing skills

A two-year course especially for female students has been set up at Coleg Gwent in Pontypool.

As well as a qualification, the free course provides child care and transport

The Equal Opportunities Commission has backed the initiative and it has been welcomed by one of its first students.

There is a shortage of plumbers - Wales needs about 1,300 more plumbers over the next few years Mary Douglas, Women's Workshop

According the to the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) Wales needs to recruit 1,350 new plumbers in the next three years to cover the skills gap.

"We are very aware that women are very poorly represented in the construction industry," said Mary Douglas, from the Women's Workshop, who has co-ordinated the setting up of the course.

"Coleg Gwent have been building a brand new construction facility and they contacted us about setting up a course for women.

"There is a shortage of plumbers - Wales needs about 1,300 more plumbers over the next few years.

"And it is a job that women can do."

She said that a 15-student course was to begin in September.

"It is a two-year course, three days a week and the students will have the chance to get the NVQ II certificate - making them qualified plumbers," she said.

Any positive action like this which gives women the chance to work in male dominated environments is a good thing Adele Baumgardt, Equal Opportunities Commission

Rob Gilvear from Coleg Gwent said that he hoped that the course would encourage more women into the construction industry.

"It has always been difficult to recruit women into these areas but hopefully this course will help change that," he said.

And the Equal Opportunities Commission has given its support for the course.

Adele Baumgardt, director of policy at the commission, said: "We are doing a lot of work in occupational segregation and why it is that men and women end up in specific areas of work.

"And also looking into skills shortages in the construction industry and how women are seriously under represented in this area.

"Any positive action like this which gives women the chance to work in male dominated environments is a good thing," she added.

According to research, the proportion of women working in construction as a whole is just 1%.

And the majority of plumbers are thought to be aged 35 or over, creating a demand to replace those leaving and to respond to the mini-boom created by a strong economy and investment in housing.

The course offers practical experience to the students

Ros Hatcher, 34, from Chepstow, has signed up for the course.

"My partner and I would like to develop property and so learning a trade would be a fantastic way for us to get to our mid term goal," she said.

"I tried getting on to a course but many of them were full - in fact some were full for next year too.

"So when I phoned Coleg Gwent and heard about the course it seemed like the best way for me to learn a trade.

"The support is going to be amazing, the course is free, they give money towards transport and equipment and the facilities we learn in is going to be amazing too.