NUT: Prime Minister’s pledge on apprenticeship schemes for school leavers

Commenting on David Cameron’s commitment to expand apprenticeship schemes for school leavers, Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers union, said:

‘David Cameron’s aspiration for the apprenticeship route to be treated with the same respect as university courses needs to filter down to the Education Secretary. Michael Gove’s continuing obsession with the classics and formal education will not convince students, parents, carers or employers that vocational training is of the same value as university or college education.

‘We need to develop the skills of young people for the sake of our economic future. Apprenticeships are a good route to developing skills that will enhance young people’s opportunities in the work place. They do, however, have to be meaningful, offering proper contracts and at proper wage levels. If students are used simply as cheap labour with no real training being offered then they are a waste of young people’s time’.

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