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date: 11 November 2009

embargo: For immediate release

Skills White Paper puts apprenticeships at the heart of education

Commenting on the Skills White Paper, published today (Wednesday), TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:

'By providing extra funding for advanced apprenticeships and helping trainees to go on to university, the Government is putting apprenticeships at the heart of our education system. Modern apprenticeships have come a long way since going into long-term decline in the 1980s and 1990s.

'The Government's new target of getting 75 per cent of people under 30 into university or advanced vocational education rightly recognises that both routes matter equally if the UK is to have more highly skilled workers. Raising the status of advanced vocational education will also improve social mobility.

'The right to request time off for training and plans for more Government programmes based on match funding from employers will require a genuine commitment from businesses to invest in staff training.

'The Government must therefore tackle the one in three employers who still provide no staff training if these proposals are to work.

'The White Paper rightly pinpoints the crucial role of union learning representatives in helping employees to engage in training at all levels.'

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Press release (300 words) issued 11 Nov 2009