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News Release from: Proskills | Subject: Production apprenticeship programme
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 25 February 2008
New production apprenticeship programme
Eric Turner of Proskills reviews the new production apprenticeship programme for Building Products announced during Apprenticeship Week.
The announcement of a new production apprenticeship programme for Building Products means that this is an exciting time to be starting a career in the industry Traditionally the Building Products sector has operated on very tight margins, with the long-term effect being to reduce staffing and inhibit recruitment
Coupled with new handling equipment and processes, this has led to the current workforce being highly skilled and versatile but with a skewed age profile.
Eric Turner, Building Products Industry Champion of Proskills (the Sector Skills Council for process and manufacturing), said: "A large proportion of these skilled workers will be leaving the industry in the next few years and the introduction of this new production apprenticeship framework for the Building Products industry is seen as being essential in both attracting and preparing young people to fill the expected vacancies.
The new apprenticeship programme brings with it the best possible preparation of achieving occupational status within the industry.
"The Building Products sector has a diverse range and scope of occupational areas, some of which have previously been covered by the standards developed by other Sector bodies, but this new production apprenticeship programme pulls in the important job roles of operators and technical occupations.
"In the past, employers may have agonised over the contentious question: apprentices - who needs them?.
But this new apprenticeship has been developed at just the right time to counteract the ageing workforce within Building Products.
"This is a golden opportunity for the industry to start the process of upskilling the workforce in a positive and serious manner".
The new Building Products apprenticeship will be adding to the 240,000 apprentices who are currently on apprenticeship schemes throughout England - about 140,000 at NVQ level 2 (apprenticeships) and 100,000 at NVQ level 3 (advanced apprenticeships).
An Apprenticeships Review, carried out jointly by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS), the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), the Prime Minister's Support Unit and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), and published earlier this year (2008) said that the aim is for apprenticeships to be a mainstream option for 16 to 18 year olds, with significant growth in apprenticeships for older learners as well.
Eric added: "This new apprenticeship means that there is now a structure in place that will ensure that training and assessment is carried out systematically and meets the requirements of the employer, the trainee and those ensuring that the programme provides added value and quality.
It may also provide positive progression from an apprenticeship to an advanced apprenticeship or higher-level work.
"We realise that there are still those within the industry who will feel that more is needed for adult employees, Proskills wants to develop an apprenticeship model for them as well, and we will be seeking to secure funding for that".
The announcement of the new apprenticeship programme comes as Proskills is celebrating the launch of the first Apprenticeship Week (25 to 29 February 2008).
The week also sees the launch of Proskills' 2008 Apprenticeship Awards for the process and manufacturing sector, including employees undertaking any apprenticeships with the building products industry.
Apprenticeship Week is an initiative backed by the government that has been designed to celebrate the ongoing success of apprenticeships whilst rallying more employers to take on apprentices.
Eric said: "The development of a specific week is an ideal way of marking the success of apprenticeships: an opportunity for us to highlight the benefits of apprenticeships for individuals and companies alike.
"Apprenticeships are a winning formula: they use qualifications which are developed to fit the occupation, they enable knowledge and skills to be passed down through the country's workforce to future generations and they allow an employee to quickly contribute to an employer's bottom line.
"Apprenticeships are giving the UK's skills base a make-over: they mean that apprentices are gaining skills highly relevant to today's modern technological age, they are enjoying themselves and are earning money at the same time.
We believe that apprenticeships are the training of the future.
"We introduced the Apprenticeship Awards for process and manufacturing in 2007 as a means of demonstrating the value that apprentices can bring to a business.
They were so successful that we have chosen the first Apprenticeship Week - from 25 to 29 February - to announce that we will be continuing the Awards for 2008.
This will be a UK-wide opportunity for apprentices from across all of our industries to raise their profile and show the sector what they are made of".
An entry form for the 2008 Apprenticeship Awards can be found on the Proskills website.
Apprenticeships are also one of the key aspects of the prospect4u careers website just launched by Proskills.
The website address is:www.prospect4u.co.uk.
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