Poor take up of apprenticeships
Latest government figures show a disastrous drop in the number of young people starting apprenticeships during the recession
Figures released today by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills raise serious concerns about the Government's reliance on the apprenticeship system to help young people during the recession.
The official data shows that the number of 16 to 18-year-olds starting apprenticeships has plummeted by 7.5 percent over the last 12 months, while the number of 19 to 24-year-olds starting apprenticeships has also fallen sharply by 5.9 percent over the same period.
Tom Richmond, Skills Adviser, CIPD, comments: "These apprenticeship figures strongly suggest that the Government's policy of expanding apprenticeships to tackle youth unemployment is faltering. After the bitterly disappointing rise in youth unemployment announced just yesterday, this week has delivered a ‘double dose' of bad news for the people hit worst by the recession.
"While we applaud the Government's broad commitment to supporting young people in these difficult times, it is clear that apprenticeships alone are not capable of solving the problems faced by school, college and university leavers. The Government's announcement earlier this week that a subsidy of £2,500 will be offered to firms for taking on young apprentices fails to address these concerns, especially as it will only be given to 5,000 companies."
18 December 2009
Created on: 18-Dec-09 10:10
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