23 November 2004

500th Modern Apprenticeship graduate celebrated

Jacob Taylor’s success in becoming the 500th graduate of the Modern Apprenticeships programme was celebrated today by Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education) Steve Maharey.

Visiting Jacob at his Wellington worksite, Steve Maharey said it was a great personal achievement for the young electrician and a great achievement for the programme's work to provide opportunities for young people and address New Zealand’s skills shortages.

After completing his Electrical Engineering (Level 4) qualification, Jacob, 20, secured full-time employment at Asset Services Wellington as an electrician. He was supported throughout his apprenticeship by his Modern Apprenticeships Co-ordinator organisation, the Electrical Training Company Ltd.

"Jacob's achievement is another important milestone for Modern Apprenticeships. Modern Apprenticeships has grown from strength to strength since its beginning as a small pilot in 2000 to become one of this government's most successful youth transitions initiatives. It was expanded nationally from 2001, with most current Modern Apprentices siging on in the last two years. As Modern Apprenticeship qualifications usually take three or four years to complete, we are expecting increasing numbers of completions.

“The high demand for Modern Apprenticeships shows that the programme is hitting the mark when it comes to producing qualified and skilled young people prepared for rewarding jobs in industry.

“As a sign of the government’s ongoing commitment to the programme, we recently contributed additional funding of nearly $9 million over the next four years to expand the scope of Modern Apprenticeships. This will provide for 1,000 extra places this financial year, bringing the total number of Modern Apprenticeships to 8,500 by June 2005.

“The government is committed to continuing to work in partnership with industry to increase workplace training and provide more opportunities for young people.”

Modern Apprenticeships are now available in a wide range of industries, including areas with no apprenticeship tradition such as retail, hospitality, tourism, transport, seafood and the public sector.

ENDS

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