[Isra]

Hello.

I'm working for the Charity called the Skills Partnership - part of the Community Partnership based in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. Our aims are to nurture employment opportunities in the National Park - particularly amongst young people, who all too often feel the only way to earn a living is to leave the area. We want to help slow the migration of skills away from rural areas, and help the next generation find their way into working life.

One way of doing this is to encourage Modern Apprenticeships in the core areas of rural employment - and, as a smallholder's daughter, I'm particularly keen on trying to introduce young people to the land based sector. Farming, smallholding, market gardening, horticulture, landscaping, land management, gamekeeping ... anything relating to the land. But we also highlight opportunities in tourism, hospitality, and local food & produce.

For anyone who doesn't know about Modern Apprenticeships, it basically means an employer gets a contracted worker learning their trade on site, rather than in a college setting (although there may also be occasional days or blocks of days of classroom based learning). The employer pays the worker's wage. Skills Development Scotland contributes to the training and the employer covers the rest.

As long as there's a Modern Apprenticeship framework, we can help train young people in any area they choose.

Training is given by accredited training providers - such as LANTRA - which we at the Skills Partnership can help match up with employers. The training provider will work with the employer to create a training programme suited to everyone's needs.

At the end, the employer has a skilled, committed worker between the age of 16-24, who can bring energy and new ideas to their business. The young person has a developed set of skills, an introduction to working life, and the possibility of a career ahead of them.

Would anyone out there be interested in taking on a Modern Apprentice? If so, please contact me at the Skills Partnership on:

Tel: 01389 727 762
Email: [email protected]

I'd also be equally interested as to why you might not be interested in taking on a Modern Apprentice - so if you can find time to comment below I'd really appreciate it.

Many thanks

Isra

[ellied]

Because very sadly I am no longer 24 and there are no schemes for second/third career people moving back to the countryside or those returning to work after childcare/elderly parent care come to that.. 

Actually this isn't a request as after 15 years trying to relocate and find work in the Trossachs area I gave up and am more settled here on my smallholding in Fife, but I do wish there were schemes for adults and not always a teenager and first career bias in such schemes since clearly the need to migrate out of the countryside has been going on for a long time and many people want to move back and can't because they've done something else in the meantime..

I'd love an apprenticeship in woodworking and/or woodland use/education/tourism/eco related work but they only look at teenage boys, sadly, not midlife women. I'm supposed to have lots of disposable income and pay on an hourly rate to get training before I can start thinking about marketing under my self employed low income status.  And I could still burden the state for benefits another 20 years if I admitted just how little I do earn and gave up trying, so it would seem reasonable to include retraining for a new direction.

Sorry, not trying to be rude, just encouraging scheme organisers to think outside the box and use all the ageing workforce aswell as the school and college leavers off the streets.

[verdifish]

Sorry for being a cynic but its just another government scheme ti fudge unemployment statistics ••!!!!

[Backinwellies]

Sorry for being a cynic but its just another government scheme ti fudge unemployment statistics ••!!!!

Actually the apprenticeship can be a real training opportunity and works well for some.... after all who is likely to want to pay full wages to a complete novice? ..Often in the landbased sector employers would just pay a 'bloke' to help a couple of days a week... this way a young person is able to get a good full time training (depending on the employer!).

I have been an apprentice assessor in the past ...... some exceptional students learned on the job ..... and are now running their own farms.

These young people would probably never have been given a full time job on a farm otherwise..... especially those not from a farming background.

It is a shame that your responses so far have been so negative Isra.

I would love to train someone on my smallholding .... but realistically there isn't the income to pay anyone for more than a few hours a week, and that I suspect will be the sticking point with most people here.   

[Rosemary]

It is a shame that your responses so far have been so negative Isra.

It certainly is 

[verdifish]

Any apprenticeships that are less than 4 years are not worth the time and effort in my mind!!!

[ellied]

I am sorry to be described as negative when stating specifically that was not my intent.

Why I bother making a point carefully and with constructive suggestions eludes me right now.  There is a valid case for encouraging adults back into rural employment by providing retraining opportunities.  Young people and others!  There are schemes for mental health patients, ex offenders and school/college leavers, but not previously employed people.

Why is it that one of the help most supportive boards is also the quickest to judge?

[Backinwellies]

Any apprenticeships that are less than 4 years are not worth the time and effort in my mind!!!

I would not expect some one that worked for me to take 4 years to be trusted to do the daily tasks unsupervised and be able to identify and deal with issues appropriately ...... which is what the first level apprenticeship does.

For more responsibility such as enterprise management then the apprenticeship is likely to be 3 to 4 years (depending on previous experience)

[Louise Gaunt]

I feel we need to be encouraging apprenticeships, especially to keep young people in the countryside. The view taken by Tony Blair et al that 50% of all school leaves should go to university is foolish and not workable. There are many young people who do not wish to go down the academic route, and an apprenticeship is a real alternative. However, asking charities to deal with this issue, is, IMO , wrong. The funding should come from central government, and that way there is a greater chance that with government help, small holders could take on apprentices, possibly shared between several holdings, to give as much experience as possible. Our younger generation are being ignored by successive governments, with very poor employment prospects even for graduates. Both my daughters, who have good degrees from decent universities, are currently struggling to get a job in the area they are educated in, because there are just too many graduates chasing too few jobs. We need to encourage different routes for higher education and apprenticeships are one area I would support . Sorry for the rant! I feel better now!

[Isra]

Thanks for all your replies. Interesting views - both positive and negative.

A bit of clarity:

Modern Apprenticeships are funded by Skills Development Scotland, from government funding. I work for the Skills Partnership charity, which is trying to promote the MAs - we don't fund them ourselves. Instead we act as matchmakers: unite employers who want apprentices with young people, and help find suitable training providers.

MAs provide a government recognised qualification over the course of any number of years. The length of the course depends on what subject you're undertaking, the level of the qualification, and how long it takes to achieve it. It can be anything between 1 and 4 years. SVQ Level 3 in agriculture would train a young person as a sprayer operator, combine driver/head combine driver, stockperson/dairyperson, technician, smallholder, unit supervisor at a finishing unit for pig, beef cattle, poultry stockperson - grower/rearer, breeder, hatchery, commercial egg layer ... for example. The training provider would probably be LANTRA.
 
What makes an MA different to college is that during the time the apprentice is learning, they are also under contract to their employer earning a wage and learning on-the-job skills. It's not a fake job - it's a contract, just as with any employee, so the results aren't 'fudged.'

It's also possible to take an MA as part of a college qualification, so credits earned in an MA could then go towards whatever college course might be undertaken and cut down the amount of time spent in the classroom.

Hope that makes things clearer. One other thing - Ellied ... I personally completely agree about the age limits. MAs do, occasionally, extend the age limit, but not nearly high enough. One of our tasks at the Skills Partnership is also to collect evidence as to why any scheme might not be suitable, and why not. It may well be that at the end of our tenure we are able to present evidence that what's really needed is NOT more investment in skills for young people, but actually courses that retrain older people who may have learned a variety of different skills but are looking for a change of direction. I believe this would be extremely valuable.

But I also believe it's essential to attract young people into the land-based sector - particularly here in the National Park, where we suffer a severe skills drain as young people believe they must leave their home to prosper. And where the average age of farmers is only increasing.

Thank you all for your comments. If anyone would like to contact me about MAs, or have any further questions, you can find the Skills Partnership under the Community Partnership website:

http://www.thecommunitypartnership.org.uk/