School-leaver apprentices to get once in a generation deal for Commonwealth Games

Published on Saturday 29 March 2008 19:28

EVERY school-leaver in Glasgow will be offered an apprenticeship as part of an extraordinary £30m plan to prepare for the city's 2014 Commonwealth Games.

In an unprecedented bid to fill the city's skills gap, all 16-year-olds who leave high school in 2009 will be offered the chance to learn a trade.

The vast majority will be trained in construction, with city chiefs aiming to ensure that they have enough workers to help build the new arenas for the Games, as well as the new M74 extension and, potentially, a new stadium at Ibrox, the home of Rangers Football Club.

It is hoped the move will cut the number of 'Neets' – teenagers not in education, employment or training – by ensuring that thousands of youngsters previously destined for the job centre will learn a trade.

In total, 2,000 construction apprenticeships will be offered. Glasgow City Council will pump in 30m to help pay for half of their wages, with the private sector who train them paying the rest. A further 500 apprenticeships will also be offered in skills ranging from electrical work to hairdressing.

The plan will be formally announced today by Glasgow City Council leader Steven Purcell. He will say:

"We will give our young people the same start in life, the same opportunity that our fathers and grandfathers received when the shipyards, the steelworks, the pits and the mills were at their height and employing hundreds of thousands of people."

The offer will affect around half of the entire school leaving population in Glasgow next year. The other half go on to university of a further education college.

The demand for apprenticeships was highlighted last year when City Building – a private construction company owned by the council – offered 70 apprenticeships and ended up receiving 2,500 applications.

The council says it has won the backing of big construction firms in the city by guaranteeing that the taxpayer will meet half the wages of the apprentices.