Great Britain: government rationalizes training and focuses on apprenticeship

Train high-skilled technicians. An economy which dropped by 5.2% over the last 12 months, unemployment affecting almost 2.5 million people: after the recession, the British government will have to limit budget expenses and spend strategically. First reform of its training policy, the government wants to remove 30 public skills organizations by 2012. This rationalization of the system comes with the will to create “a modern class of technicians” to tackle the gap employers complain about. Indeed, employers need more and more workers with basic and level 2 qualifications – by 2020, approximately one third of employees will have reached those levels. Thus, the Minister announced that three quarters of British workers below the age of 30 will have to go to college or get advanced technical qualifications via high-level apprenticeship – at first, this measure, for which no schedule was published, targeted 50%. To that end, 35,000 advanced apprenticeship places will be created over the next couple years. The government will free £115 million (around €128 million) by 2014.