Government to create new apprenticeship ‘tsar’

So I was reading in the paper that the Government is planning to appoint an 'apprenticeship tsar'  This new tsar will apparently help breathe fresh life into the government’s training and skills programme under the proposals set out in the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill published this month.

The office of ‘Chief Executive of Skills Funding’ is just one of a series of measures outlined in the bill that is intended to shake up the way training is organised in England, and will also abolish the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) by 2010.
 
The Apprenticeships, Skills, Children & Learning Bill was published this February 2009 by Skills Secretary John Denham and Children's Secretary Ed Balls. The Bill includes;
•    New measures to expand adult skills training and strengthen school standards
•    First apprenticeships legislation for nearly 200 years giving all suitably qualified young people the legal right to on-the-job training
•    Gives all employees the right to request training during their working lives
•    Local authorities will take on responsibility for securing education and training for all 16 to 19 year olds

The Second Reading of the Bill will take place on Monday 23 February.

The plan is that by 2020, ministers want 250,000 apprenticeships to start each year, with 1 in 5 of all young people will begin an apprenticeship within the next 10 years.
 
The bill confers the first legal definition of an apprenticeship for nearly two centuries, makes it clear that apprenticeships should be employment-based and provides a ‘blueprint’ for employers on the structure of an apprenticeship.
 
This new legislation also gives all employees the right to request training during their working lives and puts in place a stronger, more accountable and effective infrastructure to oversee further education and training. 
 
So do we really need a new champion for Apprenticeships? How realistic do you think the Government targets are? Have you thought about taking on an Apprentice?  What do you think about getting involved in apprenticeships – what’s stopping you?

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