(a) In this section:
(1) "Career and technology education program" means:
(A) a career and technology education program under Subchapter F, Chapter 29, Education Code; or
(B) a program determined by the department to be similar to that described by Paragraph (A) and offered by:
(i) an institution of higher education; or
(ii) a private school, as defined by Section 5.001, Education Code.
(2) "Institution of higher education" means an institution of higher education or a private or independent institution of higher education, as those terms are defined by Section 61.003, Education Code.
(b) A person who successfully completes a sequence of courses in the electrical trade that are offered through a career and technology education program may apply for and take an examination for a license as a residential wireman, regardless of whether the person has completed the number of hours of on-the-job training required by Section 1305.157(1).
(c) The commission by rule shall establish standards for the essential knowledge and skills of a career and technology education program described by Subsection (b), subject to the approval of the State Board of Education if the courses are to be offered in a high school. The rules must:
(1) require the program to consist of an appropriate number of hours of classroom instruction and a practical component; and
(2) provide for crediting appropriate on-the-job training toward meeting the requirements of the practical component.
(d) A student of any age enrolled in a career and technology education program is eligible to take the sequence of courses described by Subsection (b) without being licensed under this chapter. This subsection does not authorize a person to perform electrical work without the appropriate license outside of a program described by this section.
(e) A person may not provide instruction in a program described by this section unless the person is licensed as a master electrician, journeyman electrician, or residential wireman.
(f) A career and technology education program offered under this section by an institution of higher education may not be more stringent than a program offered by a public high school.
(g) Hours spent completing a program described by this section may not be credited toward any on-the-job training required to apply for a license under this chapter.