Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 1 December 2021
143. Deputy Michael Lowry asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the efforts being made by his Department to increase the number of apprenticeship places in higher education institutes to allow persons in an apprenticeship to complete their off-the-job college training and development in a timely manner; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59276/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere are 62 apprenticeships delivered across the further and higher education sectors. The number of places available in the majority of programmes is led by an apprenticeship consortia who determine the delivery structure and estimated registration numbers depending on employer demand and available resources in any given period.
Craft apprenticeships account for 25 of the 62 existing available apprenticeship programmes. They consist of four periods of on-the-job training interspersed with three periods of off-the-job training, two of which are delivered in higher education institutions. Given the practical nature of off-the-job training for craft apprentices, the COVID-related shutdown of on-site learning activity in 2020 and 2021 had a significant impact on the ability of craft apprentices to access off-the-job training.
At the end of October over 10,300 craft apprentices were waiting for an off-the-job training space. Almost 70% of these were in one of three apprenticeships: Electrical, Plumbing and Carpentry & Joinery. 3,200 of these apprentices were waiting for a Phase 4 or 6 space in a higher education institution.
The following measures have been put in places to increase capacity to address the waiting lists:-
- €20m capital funding has been allocated to SOLAS and the HEA (€10m to each sector) to provide additional structural capacity within Training Centres and IoTs/Technological Universities. These places began to come on-stream in September 2021 with a 20% growth on pre-COVID phase 4 and 6 spaces. Availability of training places will continue to grow in the 2022 January, April and September intakes.
- As from September 2021 classes have returned to full capacity of 14-16 apprentices per class, rather than the 50% capacity which had been in place during 2020 and until Q3, 2021 under COVID-19 distancing requirements.
- The structure of Phase 2 delivery in the three most impacted apprenticeships is being reformed, with the institutions and partners working together to deliver an innovative teaching response to reduce waiting lists. On-site teaching will be reduced to 18 weeks of practical work, with theory elements of the Phase delivered around the off-the-job training. This will allow for a third intake of Phase 2 apprentices providing up to a 50% increase in availability of Phase 2 places annually.
- €17m targeted funding has been provided for additional craft apprenticeship classes in 2022 across the further and higher education sectors. €12m has been allocated to higher education provision.
- A significant recruitment campaign is under way to deliver the additional staffing to support the above measures.
- Waiting lists are continually monitored and additional targeted measures will be introduced to ensure that craft apprentices impacted by these delays are enabled to qualify from their apprenticeship as quickly as possible.
Subject to continued access to workshops and training facilities in addition to the rollout of additional places, it is expected that the majority of craft apprentices waiting for off-the-job training for phases 4 and 6 will be cleared by Easter 2022, with phase 2 waiting lists cleared by year-end 2022.
