APPRENTICESHIPS:APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING needs to be revamped to counter an "artificial trough" in enrolments created by the economic downturn, say Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) leaders.
The requirement of apprentices to secure employment in order to train has seen enrolments drop from 8,000 at the top of the boom to 1,500 this year. Bricklaying and plastering trades have been particularly badly hit.
The TUI has welcomed the transfer of apprenticeship from the Department of Enterprise and Employment to the newly titled Department of Education and Skills in the recent Cabinet reshuffle.
Speaking at the union’s annual conference in Ennis yesterday, general secretary Peter MacMenamin confirmed that he has met Minister for Education and Skills Mary Coughlan for preliminary discussions on amalgamating the training function of Fás with the education department.
Mr MacMenamin said apprenticeship programmes stood to gain within the education portfolio. He hoped to see the review of the current policy that requires apprentices to find employment, a system that “fares badly with fluctuating employment levels”.
He warned that the current system could result in reduced enrolment of apprentices, putting in jeopardy the jobs of TUI members in the institutes of technology.
John McGabhann, TUI assistant general secretary, said apprentice enrolments are expected to hit a trough sometime between now and 2012. “Just as the spike was artificially driven by the boom, now the trough is being artificially created by the recession,” he said.
