NUT: Apprenticeships should be equal to academia – and should pay living wage
Commenting on the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee report into apprenticeships, Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union, said:
“The MPs’ report into apprenticeships is right when they say that high quality vocational training should be seen on a par with academic achievement and should be promoted within schools as such.
“The direction that Michael Gove is taking with school examination reform will not make this message easy to get across. The proposed E-Bacc will measure success based on five academic subjects with no recognition given to the arts, IT or vocational subjects. This has the potential to de-motivate many students, creating a two-tier system with vocational qualifications being perceived as second best.
“It is essential that apprenticeships are of a high standard, all of them paying at least the Living Wage and leading to meaningful work.
“Our young people are our society’s future. They have a right to jobs with proper contracts and which pay the Living Wage. We need to develop the skills of young people for the sake of our economic future and theirs”.
END pr175-2012
For further information contact Caroline Cowie on 0207 380 4706
Caroline Cowie
NUT Press Officer
Hamilton House, Mabledon Place,
London WC1H 9BD
0207 380 4706 or 07879480061
-01.png){kind=spacer}