Training - Apprenticeship numbers fall
WORKERS, MARCH 2009 ISSUE
The number of college-based apprentices finding work placements is dropping.
There is no shortage of applicants for the courses, but the scarcity of employers willing to take on apprentices means that about 25 per cent of potential trainees cannot begin their course.
The government target is 500,000 starting apprenticeships annually by 2020. Now the numbers are falling – by around 10 per cent since the same time last year.
Colleges are trying to partly address the deficit by taking on apprentices themselves as employers. College apprentices typically work in areas such as business support, IT, catering and gardening.
The deficit in apprentice employment placements means that there is a significant potential loss of funding to colleges.
Skills training through apprenticeships is vital to a viable economic future for Britain – far more important than bailing out banks.