Meeting of the Parliament 13 May 2015
We are looking at the issue very carefully because the difference is significant and we need to understand how it has come about. It will not have happened overnight, and there are some real issues there. One element may be that Scotland has traditionally had a jobs-led apprenticeship programme, so there may have been a bigger challenge with some employers. However, I do not want to make a gross assumption that that is the only thing that has been happening. There may be more going on.
We are building capacity across the skills and training landscape, and SDS is taking concrete steps, through a programme of continuing professional development, to ensure that its staff and training providers are better able to support disabled people into modern apprenticeships. We want to take a range of actions. SDS has set up an equalities advice line and is developing an additional support needs resource guide for training providers. It is also working with employer bodies to highlight the benefits to employers of recruiting from a more diverse population, including young disabled people, and is helping employers to access support for disabled employees.
The group of young people who are broadly classified as black and minority ethnic are less likely to participate in certain vocational pathways for a number of complex reasons—including, in some cases, the cultural attitude of their parents. Changing perceptions of the value of modern apprenticeships will play a key role in increasing the number of BME young people who consider a modern apprenticeship to be the right option for them.
SDS is currently working with a number of organisations to engage directly with BME communities to change those perceptions and to raise awareness. It is undertaking research to better understand the barriers—real and perceived—and is building an evidence base on which to base an improvement plan.
I am conscious of the time, and I want to make sure that I get this point in. We want to commit to taking real, tangible action—this follows on from what Liam McArthur said—to improve the accessibility of modern apprenticeship opportunities to all young people in our society. I can announce an allocation of £500,000 to SDS specifically to support the final development and early delivery of an equalities action plan, which will look across the various areas.
I am proud of how far we have come since 2007. I am proud of the work that we are doing and the targets that we are setting ourselves for 2020 for apprenticeships and for 2021 for reducing youth unemployment. I hope that everybody in the chamber will join me in celebrating the success of the programme and will go to one of the many Scottish apprenticeship week events that will take place next week.
Motion moved,
That the Parliament recognises the success of the modern apprenticeship (MA) programme and how it contributes to addressing youth unemployment while allowing young people to earn while they learn; encourages employers to consider workforce development and higher workforce skills that support long-term sustainable growth; supports the Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce’s ambitions for a world-class vocational education system; further supports the Scottish Government’s ambitions for the expansion of the programme to provide 30,000 new MA starts each year by 2020, and joins the Scottish Government in celebrating this success by supporting the activities taking place next week through the fifth annual Scottish Apprenticeship Week.—[Roseanna Cunningham.]
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