Entire Apprenticeship Class Fails Exam After Confusing Conduit Types, Blames 'Too Many Tubes'

The entire second-year class at Local 46's Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee failed last Thursday's conduit identification practical after demonstrating what the lead instructor called 'a systematic inability to distinguish between metal tubes of slightly different thickness.' The exam, which requires apprentices to correctly identify and select appropriate conduit types for various installation scenarios, produced a class average of 31 percent. The highest individual score was 44 percent, achieved by an apprentice who later admitted she 'just guessed EMT for everything and got lucky on some.' 'I asked one student to hand me a stick of rigid,' said instructor Bill Raceway, still shaking his head two days later. 'He handed me EMT. I said no, rigid. He handed me IMC. I said rigid. He handed me PVC. I asked him what PVC is made of and he said metal.' The confusion extends beyond metallic conduit. When asked to identify liquidtight flexible metal conduit, one apprentice reportedly held up a piece of Romex and said, 'This one bends.' The JATC has announced a mandatory remedial session focused exclusively on conduit identification, featuring what Raceway described as 'a petting zoo format where they can touch and hold each type until it sinks in.' 'There are like nine kinds of tubes,' protested apprentice Tyler Knockout. 'Nobody needs nine kinds of tubes. Three tubes, max. The electrical industry has a tube problem and nobody's talking about it.' The remedial session is scheduled for next Tuesday. Raceway has requested a stress leave day for Wednesday.