Students are recruited in a number of ways. One retail training provider approached schools to identify the students who already held part-time retail jobs, ascertained who their employers were and then went to the employers to point out to them that these students could receive formal subsidised training through the School-based New Apprenticeship scheme. This strategy has seen some 70 students become school-based New Apprentices.
Woolworth’s ‘Big W’, which intends to have several School-based New Apprentices in each of their stores in South Australia, has taken the approach of holding information nights in schools. The selling point for both students and their parents is that the New Apprenticeships lead to real career pathways with opportunities for further training and advancement through a clear employment structure. It is a transition to work with some of the uncertainties removed. ‘Big W’ has links with Wide Bay TAFE in Queensland and is also committed to the students finishing Year 12. It promises to report back to parents.
The benefit of School-based New Apprenticeships to the students is "plain to see", according to the Futures Connect SBNA Program Manager, Peter Both. They become more focused on their work and their schooling.
There is an immediate boost in their confidence – a feeling that ‘I am special’. But then comes the reality check where they have to meet the demands of both. That can be particularly challenging for some since they miss bits of school but most manage in the end. What is important is that they get support at school and, in fact, the completion of school-based new apprenticeships appears to be better than that for apprenticeships/traineeships undertaken after a young person leaves school.
There remain a number of outstanding issues if School-based New Apprenticeships are to be further integrated into the vocational education provision by schools. One concerns funding – not a plea for a blank cheque because, as Peter Both, points out "one of our tasks is to see if we can make the VET programs more efficient and cost-effective – especially in relation to the changes schools need to make in timetabling arrangements".
School-based New Apprenticeships must also have formal approval through the industrial relations process. The Engineering Pathways School-based Apprenticeships, for example, ran successfully as a pilot program for two years through a verbal agreement but now, school-based apprenticeships are allowable under the federal metal award which has now been varied to include suitable provisions. The Building Construction industry and unions have, thus far, been much slower in their actions towards school-based apprentices even though there appears to be a strong demand from school students for apprenticeships in many areas including carpentry, bricklaying, general building and the like.
SOURCES:
Interview with Peter Both, Program Manager School Industry Initiatives, DECS, South Australia April 2004; material provided includes South Australia Handbook: School Based new Apprenticeships, BigW and WideBay TAFE.