Apprenticeships in times of crisis
Apprenticeships have been around for centuries but they are now
getting a lot of fresh attention as the world struggles to defuse the
potentially explosive youth employment crisis.
Determined to avert the rise of a lost generation, the world is
increasingly looking to apprenticeships as a silver bullet against the
global youth jobs crisis.
Any solution obviously would be complex but the renewed focus on
apprenticeships and their job-creation potential is welcome at a time
when 75 million young men and women are unemployed.
Good apprenticeships provide young people with the skills they need
to enter the marketplace and match the supply of skilled labour to the
needs of employers. They can help reduce the incidence and duration of
unemployment, while supporting economic growth.
“Better and more broadly available apprenticeships and other training
opportunities, can reduce youth unemployment and poverty when combined
with national efforts to spur job growth,” says Christine Evans-Klock,
who heads the ILO’s Skills and Employability Department.
Demonstrated benefits
A lot of people are looking to apprenticeships as the silver bullet
in tackling the youth employment crisis.
The positive impact of well-designed apprenticeships - and
particularly dual systems that combine workplace and classroom-based
training - has been clearly demonstrated.
In countries where a fifth or more of all 16-24 year olds are in
apprenticeships, such as Austria, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands
and Denmark - which all have dual systems - youth unemployment is lower
than in other European countries where apprenticeships are not that
common.
Apprenticeship systems have a centuries-old tradition in some
countries but it is only fairly recently that their job creation
potential has been gaining widespread acceptance, says Michael Axman, a
skills development expert at the ILO.
“A lot of people are looking to apprenticeships as the silver bullet
in tackling the youths employment crisis.”
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“Interest has really boomed in recent months. There’s an increasing
number of conferences around the world on apprenticeships, and we’re
getting a lot of phone calls from constituents seeking advice on how to
set up a good apprenticeship system,” says Axman.
While the wholesale export of even the most tried-and-tested
apprenticeships - such as the much vaunted German system - makes little
sense, countries can pick and choose elements that can be adapted to
their own needs.
Axman believes it is possible for developing, emerging and developed
economies to set up apprenticeship systems, citing Haiti, Jordan and
Israel as countries that have recently expressed strong interest in
doing so.
Private sector involvement
However countries choose to set up apprenticeship programmes,
involvement of the private sector is fundamental and must be a starting
point, says Axmann.
“What is needed is a commitment from companies and preferably whole
sectors.”
One of the main reasons for relatively smooth school-to-work
transitions in dual system countries is that the availability of
apprenticeships is closely linked to the needs of employers.
Worker organizations also have an important role to play in the
design of quality apprenticeships, while the government needs to assure
quality basic education, facilitate private sector involvement and share
the costs of the dual training system.
There is also scope for scaling up, strengthening and improving
apprenticeship programmes in countries that already have them.
This is all the more important as the emergence of new jobs - for
example in the clean energy sector - means new skills are needed.
Delivering quality apprenticeships entails ensuring that the
curriculum is relevant to the needs of today’s world of work. In some
cases this involves a rethink of the way skills are imparted, with less
focus of memorization and more on analytical thought, says Axmann.
“Rather than a brain like a computer with a small processor and a
huge memory, what is needed to succeed in today’s world of work is a
brain with a much bigger processor unit.”
The call for action on the youth employment crisis adopted at the
International Labour Conference in June 2012 highlights the importance
of apprenticeships.
It urges governments to seriously consider improving the range and
types of apprenticeships by:
* complementing learning at the workplace with more structured
institutional learning;
* upgrading the training skills of master crafts persons and trainers
overseeing the apprenticeships;
* including literacy training and livelihood skills
* strengthening community involvement
* ensuring apprenticeships provide a real learning experience
* regulating and monitoring apprenticeships
Courtesy: GENEVA (ILO News)
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