Tucked away on the business pages of today’s Western Mail is a very important warning to the Welsh Assembly Government that their lack of commitment to the training and education of the 19 to 25 cohort is damaging the Welsh economy.
It is the stated policy of the Labour/Plaid Government that their spending priority for post 16 education is those aged between 16 and 19 with the result that many FE colleges have had to axe courses aimed at retraining and educating those over the age of 19. This is despite the fact that 40% of the those currently registered as unemployed in Wales fall in the 16 to 25 age group.
Now the National Training Federation Wales (NTFW) has warned that training providers could be forced to turn away people seeking apprenticeships next year because of a cut in support for work-based learning programmes. Arwyn Watkins, chairman of the NTFW, questioned WAG’s strategies of encouraging young people and adults to improve their skills during the economic recession and then not providing the funding to deliver the relevant work-based learning programmes.
Addressing an economic summit in Bangor, Mr Watkins said: “There are currently in excess of 6,000 individuals waiting to start an apprentice-ship programme due to lack of capacity on the current year’s allocation.
“Given the current 5% reduction in contract allocation on the apprenticeship programme for next year, this situation will not improve and we will be turning individuals and learners away from the very progression route pathway that is the intended outcome of other WAG programmes.
“We recognise the restraints on public expenditure and the efficiency gains that need to be made but I cannot underestimate the demand for work based learning programmes that is currently not being met.
“This is particularly prevalent on the apprenticeship programmes. Demand has increased due to a number of strategies over previous years but there are a number of initiatives within the Skills that Work for Wales Action Plan that are now coming to fruition.
“All of the advice from commentators regarding positive action during the economic recession has highlighted the need to continue to focus on skills.”
For all the hype coming from the One Wales Government about how well they are doing it seems that this perception is not shared out in the real world. Talk about investing for the future and building up our capacity to get us out of recession does not sit well with cuts in education and training courses.
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