Wyllow3
We do need really attractive apprenticeship schemes, and help for businesses/colleges to run them. I don't believe that they would be unattractive to many youngsters. Some like in hairdressing and beauty run very well atm, not sure about plumbing, electrics, building etc - often well paid jobs..
I used to lecture in an FE college and one of departments there was related to the building trades. Courses there were always oversubscribed and obviously those who completed them were very employable. Then, out of the blue, these courses were all scrapped. None of us knew exactly why, but presumably they were expensive to run and they were not profitable.
All further and higher education now seems to be based on whether or not the institutions can make enough money out of them. Surely this should not be the case, valuable and necessary training should be funded directly.
I actually taught on government Employment Training schemes during which students usually learnt enough IT to enable them to get a work placement and eventually get a job. Unfortunately we lost this contract because another "provider" said they could guarantee work placements and jobs - which is a pretty dubious claim!
I agree with others who suggest that all levels of our education system may need their aims tweaking to make people more employable. In teens and later more technical courses and apprenticeships would be a start, but I understand that the paperwork involved in employing an apprentice is not insignificant.
Too many young people go to university to study for qualifications that are unlikely to lead to future work. In my parent's generation and earlier there were evening classes which went towards a qualification and a better job. Equally, if you wanted to study English literature or Art you could do this in evening classes whilst earning a living during the day.