Training course options to double

The number of apprenticeship options available is set to almost double with the creation of 25 new training programmes in careers from catering to truck-driving.

The range of new apprenticeships announced yesterday will add to 27 existing schemes that are mainly in construction-based and craft trades.

On foot of recommendations by the Apprenticeship Council set up last year, detailed work is now beginning on developing the training schemes. They will range from two to four years in duration and some could be on offer for new trainees by the end of this year.

The career areas and sectors covered include accountancy, travel, craft welding, insurance, software development, transport and logistics, chefs, financial services, and medical devices.

The vast majority are expected to be ready for new entrants some time next year, and all 25 are at an advanced stage of design, planning and collaboration between industry and education. Another 35 programmes proposed by businesses, industry groups, colleges or education authorities need further development before reaching the same stage, but 25 others require much more work or might be deemed unsuitable for apprenticeships.

The programmes will see a change from the traditional funding model, under which the State pays apprentices an allowance for the period of off-the-job training done in institutes of technology or other education centres. Participants in new apprenticeships will be paid by their employer for time on and off the job, but most will be shorter than the traditional four years’ duration and employers will have more flexibility on wages than in trades that currently train apprentices.

Employers body Ibec welcomed the apprenticeships announced by Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan and Skills Minister Damien English as a real alternative to direct entry from school to third-level for ambitious and capable young people.

“Companies will be involved in both the design of curricula and in the delivery of programmes, some of which extend up to degree level,” said Ibec head of education policy Tony Donohoe. “This will ensure the continuing relevance of qualifications in a rapidly changing labour market.”

Ms O’Sullivan said employers have shown genuine interest in new apprenticeships, and can gain from taking on committed young people and engaging with a system that ensures apprentices have all the skills needed in workplaces.

While numbers of new apprentices dropped to a little over 1,000 around 2011, they have doubled since 2012 to around 3,000 who are expected to begin apprenticeships this year.

Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI) said the announcement was, in many ways, as significant as free second-level education announced in 1966.

“For too long, we have been seduced into believing that that the key to social and economic success lies in ‘going to college’,” said ETBI general secretary Michael Moriarty.