Quote from Heather Ridout.
"What's worse, she lamented, is that while at any one time up to 450,000 apprentices and trainees are being taught, in come cases up to 70% quit their courses before completing them. Also we have a workforce where nearly half cannot read the operating manual necessary for the job they're doing in a factory."

I have several friends who are teachers in the TAFE colleges where they try to teach these apprentices. One of major difficulties they face is the lack of hands on skills which the students are bringing to their work. This was not a problem, back when the apprentices generally came from a secondary technical school background, but with the demolition of these facilities, today's secondary school students who lack the elementary training in hands on skills, are ill prepared for an apprenticeship, hence the high drop-out rate.

It is therefore a waste of resources, providing more vocational training opportunities without also providing the basic training which the old technical schools provided. The previous Liberal government made some noises in that direction, but both parties seem to have dropped the ball. The once blue collar Labor party, which now seems to be predominately intellectual, should embrace the opportunity to return to its roots and provide leadership in this direction.

David

Do we know WHY apprentices drop out? Has anyone asked the question?

From my experience with two young people attempting to access apprenticeship training there are numerous problems:
- Many many pre-apprenticeship training schemes recommended by the Government, churning out far more pre-apprentices than there are apprenticeships. So, having wasted 5 months, and thousands of dollars, they must then go and try to do something else when it becomes apparent that there are 100 applicants for every apprenticeship.
- The number of organisations involved in apprenticehips is ridiculous. The level of administration and paper shifting that occurs, without any real benefit to anyone makes the process slow, inefficient, time consuming for the employer, and potentially too frustrating to even undertake.
- The more funding is provided to smaller organisations rather than looking at where the jobs are supposed to come from, the more the confusion at the trainees end. Why apply with seven agencies, when they all handle the same jobs? Why ARE there seven aganeices?

And as for the Department of Work? yes, it is quite possible this is needed. We have, for far too long, both imported migrants to fill skills gaps (at the higher end of wage scale), and berated young people for not having a job. Whatever the issue - their lack of the right skills, the lack of hands-on skills, the lack of actual apprenticeship jobs - unless one department is responsible for understanding it, we are stuck with the solution of finding countries where they have sorted out these issues, and poaching their skilled workers.

"Interestingly, there is no limit to the numbers than can be brought here under this scheme."

OMIGOD!
That's it. Goodbye Australia. R.I.P.

Of the immigrants we get, the vast majority do not speak English well or at all.
If our own youth are having trouble reading the operating manual, I don't see how NESB migrants will.

Two thirds of skilled migrants have no sponsor.
How do we *know* they are ever going to get work?

And the 35% family reunion. Scrap it!
These people serve no useful purpose whatsover.

Enough!