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Rediscovering apprenticeships

Rediscovering apprenticeships. Professor Erica Smith University of Ballarat, Australia Co-Chair, International Network on Innovative Apprenticeship (INAP). Why the rediscovery?. An old form of employment-based training, currently undergoing revival;

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Rediscovering apprenticeships

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  1. Rediscovering apprenticeships Professor Erica Smith University of Ballarat, Australia Co-Chair, International Network on Innovative Apprenticeship (INAP)

  2. Why the rediscovery? • An old form of employment-based training, currently undergoing revival; • Newer economies have an urgent need for trained workers; • Mature economies looking for more highly-qualified workforces; • Struggling economies looking for ways to protect young people from unemployment.

  3. Opportunities and challenges • There are many available models, BUT countries without established apprenticeship systems need to examine critically, and adapt for their own culture and history. • Those with established systems have strong histories and ‘brand awareness’, BUT face entrenched interests in attempts to reform their systems.

  4. What is an apprenticeship? May include some or all of these features: • A lengthy period of learning eg 3 years; • An employment contract; • A combination of on and off the job (ie college-based) learning; theoretical and practical learning; • A qualification gained through college, at sub-degree level; • Restricted to designated occupations; • Overseen by governments.

  5. What do apprenticeships mean to people? • Learning from an experienced worker; • Enculturation into an occupation; • A passage into adulthood; • A ‘ticket’ for earning a living throughout life.

  6. WHY do governments encourage apprenticeship? • Aid ‘school to full-time-work’ transition; • Assist with labour force participation for disadvantaged groups; • Help people climb qualification ladders; • Provide a supply of skilled workers; • Gain engagement of industry/employers and trade unions in the education system.

  7. HOW do governments encourage apprenticeships? Some or all of the following: • Provide financial incentives for employers; • Fund college training; • Institute marketing campaigns (to employers, to young people); • Fund intermediary agencies; • Require companies to employ apprentices before they get government contracts; • Enforce apprenticeship employment ratios and wage rates in industrial relations agreements; • Expand the range of people eligible to enter; • Take an interest in quality of delivery; • Involve the social partners in arrangements.

  8. Apprenticeships and traineeships in Australia: The state of play • A mature apprenticeship system embedded in VET qualifications and employment practices; • 440,000 Australians in apprenticeships and traineeships mid-2010 (200,000 ‘traditional apprentices’); • This is 4% of the total workforce of approximately 10.7 million (with only 4.6% unemployment); • Over 90% of apprentices and trainees are undertaking qualifications at Certificate III level or higher; • 34% are aged 19 and under with a further 26% aged 20 to 24; • Apprentices and trainees are always employed. 30% of commencements are ‘existing worker’ ie already employed at the company; • After a dip during the GFC, commencements have recovered.

  9. Recent history • In early 1980s there was no ‘contracted training’ outside traditional trades; • Older people and part-time workers had no access to the system; women and migrant groups had little access; • Commencements were low because of economic recession; • Bureaucracy associated with apprenticeships was immense.

  10. Government solutions • 1985 the Kirby Report advocated traineeships in newer industry areas and service industries. Usually 12 months rather than 3 or 4 years; • In the1990s rules were relaxed to allow part-time workers and older workers to participate; • NETTFORCE in 1995 to speed traineeship approvals; • Part-time secondary school based participation; • Funding for employment of apprentices & trainees, and for formal training (‘user choice’); • Private training providers (RTOs) eligible for funding.

  11. Government bodies • Contracts of training registered with State Training Authority (STA); • Employment incentives administered by DEEWR -federal government; • Quality of training by training providers overseen by Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF)- managed by national Quality Council and administered by STAs.

  12. Funded Agencies Direct: • Group Training Organisations • Australian Apprenticeship Centres

  13. Group Training Organisations • http://www.gtaltd.com.au/ • 180 GTOs funded jointly by federal and State governments; • ‘Lease’ apprentices to employers; • Receive government employment incentive; • Provide extensive pastoral care especially in trade areas.

  14. Australian Apprenticeship Centres • Set up after NETTFORCE to increase ‘sign-ups’; • Market apprenticeships and inform both parties about incentives and obligations; • Private agencies that have a contract with the federal government.

  15. Other stakeholders • Training providers (Registered Training Organisations); • Industry Skills Councils http://www.isc.org.au/ ; • Employer associations and peak bodies; • Trade unions and peak bodies; • Government education and industrial relations departments.

  16. What are some current concerns in Australia? • Low completion rates (about 50%); • Traineeships are persistently undermined by the craft and manufacturing unions; • Concerns about quality of delivery, both at college and on the job; • Difficulty in attracting apprentices to some trades and some types of company; • Poor pathways from craft and manufacturing apprenticeships to higher education.

  17. The INAP network • Established 2006 to examine best practice in apprenticeships internationally; • Aimed at use of research evidence in apprenticeship policy; • Our 4th conference is in Beijing in May 2011.

  18. Key themes in the book ‘Rediscovering apprenticeship’ • Interlocking role of different government agencies; • Inclusion of disadvantaged young people and geographical regions; • Need to balance concern for quality and transferability versus flexibility and autonomy by companies; • Importance of authentic tasks for maximum learning; • Importance of skilled and well-qualified trainers; • Path dependency - history and context affect engagement of the parties.

  19. Some questions for the future (1) • If apprenticeships are locally-rooted what are the effects of globalisation? • How do, and should, countries decide between investment in apprenticeships and in higher (university) education? • (linked to the above) How can pathways from apprenticeship to higher education be forged with due regard for differences in pedagogy?

  20. Some questions for the future (2) • How can apprenticeships avoid widening the gap between ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’? (recruitment, completion) • How can apprenticeships survive periods of recession? • How can apprenticeship systems continue to reconcile the interests of different stakeholders? • How can an occupation-based system reconcile with increasingly flexible careers?

  21. Want to be involved in the debate? • Find some answers, pose some questions • INAP conference Beijing May 26-27 2011 • http://www.inap.uni-bremen.de/ • Email: beijing2011@uni-bremen.de Erica Smith e.smith@ballarat.edu.au

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