A MAJOR review of apprenticeships and youth training in Northern Ireland is to take place.
The review aims to raise the status in which apprenticeships are held and ensure that young people are provided with opportunities to gain skills, gain experience and secure sustainable employment.
This will assist the growth and rebalancing of the economy by providing employers with an appropriately skilled workforce.
Making the announcement, Employment and Learning Minister Stephen Farry said: “Existing apprenticeship and youth training schemes have served Northern Ireland businesses well, but the types of economic activity in which they engage and the goods and services they produce are changing rapidly. There is a clear need to invest in higher level skills across a broad front to meet these changing needs.
“I want to reflect the changing nature of our economic opportunities in Northern Ireland and to ensure that our training programmes are fit for purpose for the twenty-first century — delivering gold standard apprenticeship programmes.”
The minister explained that the review will ensure that training opportunities on offer match the needs of the economy and equip young people with economically relevant skills and qualifications.
The review will seek to raise the regard with which apprenticeships are held and ensure they are flexible and tailored to meet individual needs.
Minister Farry continued: “While we already have a strong apprenticeship offering, apprenticeships have lost some of the status they previously held with other pathways of education and training held in greater esteem. Therefore I want to establish a system of apprenticeships that offers a pathway that is regarded as equal to or even better than academic routes. At the same time, I want the review to consider how young people can progress into higher education from a non-traditional pathway if they so wish.
“Not all of our young people will be ready to take on an apprenticeship. Some will need a small amount of additional training to prepare for the challenges of the future apprenticeships; others will require an extended package of training and work experience.
“There are also young people who are further removed from the labour market whose journey towards employment will take longer. The review of youth training opportunities will ensure that the training available is sufficiently broad and flexible to enable them to fulfil their potential,” he concluded.
The review will report its findings this autumn and will be advised by an expert panel which includes employers and education and skills providers.