The Government aims to significantly increase the footprint of apprenticeship within the education landscape over the coming five years, ensuring that apprenticeships are open and accessible and are seen as a viable and exciting path to skills and a qualification. The positive impact of learning which is closely linked to the workplace is well recognised, providing benefits for learners, employers and society as a whole. Employers can proactively support a pipeline of talent targeted to their needs and learners have the benefit of immediate access toapplied skills development within the workplace, enhancing knowledge development and boosting career options.
Over the last five years the skills landscape has been transformed under the National Skills Strategy,delivering a robust model for identifying existing and emergent skills needs together with an enhanced ability for the education and training sector to deliver appropriate and targeted programmes to meet those needs. This period has seen investment of over €620m in apprenticeship to address identified skill needs, support growth and productivity, build career paths and support policy objectives as set out in the National Skills Strategy, Project Ireland 2040, the National Development Plan 2018-2027,and the Climate Action Plan. This investment has delivered radical expansion of the apprenticeship system, promoting apprenticeship development in new and emerging sectors of the economy and delivering a base for rapid growth of the sector over the next five years.
The timeframe of this plan is set against the uncertain background of a pandemic. Substantial Government intervention through the July Stimulus and Budget 2021 has worked to maintainexisting employer-employee relationships, allowing for rapid recovery once COVID-19 restrictions lift. However the workplace is changing, and the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions have been most keenly felt in terms of youth unemployment. Apprenticeship provides a route to rapid re-employment for those impacted by scarring effects and structural changes to the economy and labour market. Upskilling and reskilling are a Government priority to foster an inclusive recovery and to support the digital and green transitions, key commitments in the Programme for Government.
An ambitious target of 10,000 new apprentice registrations per annum by 2025 underlines this Government’s commitment to reforming the position of apprenticeship in the wider education and training sector. This plan will set out a structure for an apprenticeship system that is flexible and responsive, providing a strong value proposition for employers and potential apprentices, is attractive and easy to engage with, and delivers high standards and sought-after qualifications. Apprenticeship is a work based learning opportunity and delivery of this Plan is dependent on engagement by employers,industry partners and the education and training sector.
Ministerial Foreword
Apprenticeship crosses boundaries. It provides a bridge between workplace learning and achieving internationally recognised qualifications and it is the one of the few programmes which is offered across further and higher education institutions. It is a forerunner for the true tertiary system my Department is working to build. As the first Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, I am particularly pleased to set out a vision for apprenticeship which will build on both the strong tradition of apprenticeship in this country and the gains achieved under the first apprenticeship action plan during the past five years.
Apprenticeship is a fantastic way to learn. We know this because apprentices told us when we askedthem as part of our consultation process. I am determined that this action plan will ensure that apprenticeship will no longer be the best kept secret of our education and training system. I want to see apprenticeship discussed around kitchen tables, in boardrooms, in classrooms and anywhere else that education, skills and career decisions are made. I am determined that these conversations are inclusive and that the apprenticeship population better reflects the wonderful diversity of our people.
This action plan will deliver a structure that recognises the unique role of apprenticeship within our education and training system. It will bring together the key State players in a single National Apprenticeship Office while further embedding the well-established industry-focused approach to developing and delivering apprenticeship. The synergy between employers, employee representatives, learners, and the further and higher education system will be enhanced, delivering an apprenticeship system that is well positioned to leverage the close relationship between enterprise and education.We are at a critical stage in Ireland’s move towards recovery.
This plan will underpin an apprenticeshipsystem through which both employers and apprentices can be confident that they are engaging intraining and development which is up-to-date, relevant and in areas where the demand for skills isassured. It will deliver clarity for school-leavers, jobseekers and career changers on the wide range of available apprenticeships and will support employers who wish to engage with apprenticeship.
Government will ensure that the public sector plays its part. The plan will deliver high quality publicsector employment and training opportunities, underpinning the reform of our public service.I want to sincerely thank all those who have engaged with my Department over the developmentof this plan. Learners, unions, employers, state agencies, advocacy groups and education and training providers have all given generously of their time and expertise. I know the commitment to apprenticeship you have demonstrated through the process will continue in our work together on the plan in the years ahead.
The long term benefits for apprentices are the opportunities for skilled employment and career prospects that apprenticeships provide. In the short term, the payment of wages or allowances during the training period also confer benefits. For an individual, the decision to embark on an apprenticeship will depend on the extent to which they have access to quality information on apprenticeships and the comparative attractiveness of other forms of education or training, paid employment, or welfare supports.
Significant progress has been made in widening access supports across the general further and higher education sector. The work-based nature of apprenticeship means that prospective apprentices may face barriers related not only to accessing education, but employment also. The expanding range of opportunities available within apprenticeship, as well as changing work practices in traditional areas, provide a step towards increasing opportunity for persons with a disability and other traditionally under-represented groups, however relying on a broader range of apprenticeships is not sufficient to provide equity of opportunity to marginalised groups.
A wide range of submissions to the consultation process addressed the issue of barriers to participation in apprenticeship by under-represented groups. Specific submissions included proposals to overcome these barriers and increase participation by women, lone parents, people with disabilities, young people and older adults experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage, Travellers and Roma, young people at risk of offending and former prisoners.
Apprentice feedback highlights a number of challenges for females and others with caring responsibilities. In at least one instance an apprentice was forced to withdraw from their apprenticeship due to difficulties accessing off-the-job training after a period of statutory leave. The requirement for travel for periods of 10-22+ weeks for craft apprentices may be a disincentive for those with mobility issues, transport difficulties or caring responsibilities.
Increased ownership of scheduling by apprentices may, in some part, facilitate access to craft apprenticeship by career changers and those with caring responsibilities. Issues relating to the approach to the payment of allowances will also be examined.
While progress has been made in a number of areas since the 2018 Review of Pathways to Participation in Apprenticeship, there remain a number of outstanding areas of action in terms of baseline data collection. Developing areas of good practice are evident, including through the TU Dublin Access to Apprenticeship programme, all female tech apprenticeship classes through FIT, and the rollout of over 500 pre-apprenticeship places in further education and training as part of the PLC reform programme.
There were just over 1,000 female apprentices within the apprentice population by the end of 2020 (representing 5% of the population) and the number of apprentices self-declaring a disability and in receipt of supports is 2.7%, up slightly from the 2018 figure on a significantly increased apprentice population.
