Youth plan needs to incorporate training

Youth opportunities plan needs to incorporate training

Employers and community groups taking advantage of the government’s new youth opportunities scheme should work with Industry Training Organisations to ensure that a training element is incorporated into the arrangement.

Industry Training Federation Executive Director Jeremy Baker said that such an approach could signal the difference between a sticker plaster approach and an initiative that supported long-term economic and social development.

“If the government is serious about making this more than something to keep young people occupied in the short term, they will work with ITOs to ensure that relevant training is part of the package and accessible to both the individual and to the workplace,” Mr Baker said.

“Industry training works because it links workplace learning to national qualifications and standards. It supports training that helps productivity in the workplace as well as supporting trainees in career development.

“In particular, this provides an opportunity to include young people in some of the excellent workplace literacy and numeracy initiatives that ITOs have been leading,” Mr Baker said.

ENDS

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