THE TEACHERS’ Union of Ireland has warned of a skills deficit unless the State moves to boost the apprenticeship system.
The union is backing a new initiative on craft education; it says State sponsorship of some pre-apprenticeship schemes could be cost neutral to the exchequer.
The TUI represents 4,000 Institute of Technology lecturers among its 14,500 members. Its annual congress takes place in Cork this week.
Yesterday, TUI general secretary Peter MacMenamin said: “Apprenticeship is a vital area of education which is also critical for our economy. We have a high-quality apprenticeship scheme and we must preserve it. However, the system in Ireland is industry-led. The apprentice must be taken on by an employer at a significant cost to the employer before commencing the course. When the economy goes into decline so do apprentice numbers.”
He predicted a significant and “potentially disastrous” decline in the number of apprentices over the coming year. At a time when we need to move towards boosting the skill levels of every individual in the workforce, allowing this deterioration in skill levels would be short-sighted, he said.
TUI says an new initiative is needed to maintain the necessary skill in the economy and to ensure that there are young people who are given some basis of craft education not necessarily sponsored by an employer, so that these young people will be in a position to be fast-tracked to fully qualified apprentice status. This can be done through the institutes of Technology using the skilled personnel available and at minimal cost, according to the union.
Mr MacMenamin said: “The State should move towards a mechanism where it finances the provision of some pre-apprenticeship courses . . . The majority of these young people would most likely be in receipt of social welfare benefits from the State in any event even if they are not given the opportunity to up-skill.”
Such a State-led scheme would be cost neutral or near to cost neutral to the State, he said.
