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Concerns about the lack of resources to support apprenticeship, including resources in jurisdictions, secondary schools, communities and agencies providing services to communities or groups of individuals

A. GENERIC BARRIERS

Respondents voiced concerns about the ade-quacy of resources to support apprenticeship, including resources in jurisdictions, communities and community-support agencies.

In the view of many educators, the negative bias toward the trades and technical training may be responsible for the relative lack of funding for apprenticeship training. It is perceived that apprenticeship support in secondary schools is weak because of traditional attitudes and practices on the part of educators and parents who would rather support university careers for their students and children (Information Development and Training Inc, 2001; Kaminura et al., 1998). A lack of financial resources and competing priorities may result in new secondary schools being built without the infrastructure required for teachers dedicated to delivering courses that might prepare students for apprenticeship. Put another way, the lack of a culture of apprenticeship has meant that, provincially and federally, public funding for apprenticeship is still primarily directed to post-secondary institutions (Viswanathan, 2002).

The lack of adequate secondary school supports takes many forms (). Since youth lack ongoing support during high school, respondents suggested that resources were needed to “case manage” interested individuals through high school, keep contact with them on a personal basis, and keep the trades alive as a career option. A number of interviewees maintained that introducing trades to students late in high school is too late (). Coordinating bodies that help students become involved in apprenticeship can play a key role in overcoming this barrier.

Student and parent focus groups also identified a number of related resource barriers in the school system and the broader apprenticeship system:

• There are not enough qualified trades teachers at the high school and college levels.
• Students involved in apprenticeship talked about the importance of effective communication among apprentices, employers and governments.
• Students involved in apprenticeship and career-preparation programs spoke of the challenge of work experience within the fixed school daily timetable.
• Parents believed that many schools lack equip-ment and facilities to offer trades programs.For schools that have equipment, the pro-grams are often out of date and do not keepup with equipment used on the job site.
• Students in alternative schools and privateschools receive less exposure to trades and apprenticeship.
• Parents perceived a lack of overt school boardand administration “championing” and support for trades and apprenticeship ().

Secondary literature also pointed to a lack ofhigh-school career and trades programs, andaccess to apprenticeship programs. For example,CLFDB (1994) cited the need for new school-to-work transition models, particularly in new apprenticeable occupations—a conclusionsupported by other research (InformationDevelopment and Training Inc., 2001).

For college apprenticeship, lack of funding is seen as a significant institutional problem (CSLS, 2001). In some jurisdictions, government funding does not cover the full cost of technical training and institutions lose money on every apprentice; training budgets have not kept pace with the growth in registration (MacCulloch and Henley, 2002). In one province, recent changes in education policy have resulted in the cost of apprenticeship programs increasing dramatically (). As a result, demand for such programs is vulnerable to labour market conditions.

Employers in some jurisdictions also felt that more resources were required to support various aspects of apprenticeship, including activities related to promoting apprenticeship and recruiting participants (CME-NS, 2002; MacCulloch and Henley, 2002; ). Similarly, some individuals noted that resources in the apprenticeship system might be too scarce. As a result, growth in demand for new apprenticeships may not be met (MacCulloch and Henley, 2002). More broadly, marked regional variation in apprentices’ satisfaction with apprenticeship training was also observed (Prism Economics and Analysis, 2000A).

For respondents in one jurisdiction, the prevalence of poaching was closely tied to adequacy of provincial and territorial apprenticeship resources. Specifically, jurisdictions may lack sufficient staff and resources to enforce apprenticeship regulations, particularly apprentice/ journeyperson ratios in rural areas
(). In automotive service and collision repair, for example, spokespersons noted that, in some jurisdictions, employers hire far more apprentices than permitted under the ratios. These employers maintain these apprentice staffs by poaching apprentices from other employers for slightly higher wages. Since this wage is still below that of journeypersons, employers are able to maintain a competitive position in the industry, with work done not by journeypersons but by apprentices. Without adequate enforcement, this situation will not be redressed. As a result, a minority of employers are left to support the formal apprenticeship system.