As the Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament for Clackmannanshire, I often speak to young people who feel pushed to take a certain path in life.
Within society, young people are often told when choosing their future plans that they should aim for university.
It’s pushed as the gold standard for all young people, with the narrative that if you’re smart, you’ll go to university.
And if not, you’ll do something lesser.
It’s time we challenged that attitude.
Apprenticeships aren’t a fallback.
They are a legitimate and incredibly valuable route to a skilled career, and therefore they should be treated as such.
For too long have they been seen as a "Plan B" and something for young people who aren’t expected to do well in exams.
That’s not only unfair, it’s also wrong.
This is because apprenticeships are an incredibly positive pathway for many school leavers.
They give hands-on experience, proper qualifications, and a wage while they learn.
In a wide range of industries from trades such as joinery to services such as childcare, apprenticeships form the foundation of the workforce.
In order to change perceptions and attitudes towards alternative routes young people can take after school, there must be change at the top.
Politicians from all across Holyrood speak in buzzwords such as "skills" and "opportunities", but in reality, governmental policy leans heavily towards university routes.
The Scottish Government’s budget for apprenticeships has been cut in real terms, with Skills Development Scotland funding being frozen at £202 million over the previous three years.
This shows that the government is guilty of undervaluing apprenticeships and the positive benefits they can have on young people.
In Clackmannanshire, there are simply not enough resources allocated to vocational training that gives young people practical skills.
When speaking to another young person about their future plans, they stated that they applied for a plumbing apprenticeship through the local college that had almost three times as many applicants as available spaces.
This is clear evidence of the fact that there is simply not enough investment in education that involves tools and craftsmanship, not textbooks and essays.
At the same time, the Scottish Government's wider economic approach isn’t helping.
There has been 18 years of record underinvestment in our communities, with a lack of strong economic growth and crumbling public services which delivers a devastating double blow.
The recent failure of the SNP government to protect jobs at the Grangemouth Refinery will further decrease the availability of apprenticeships in the area, worsening an already unsatisfactory situation.
Yet, this situation is still solvable.
But it will require a large and serious amount of political willpower.
And it means politicians putting money where their mouths are.
It means properly funding colleges, and making sure all young people can access higher quality vocational education.
And arguably most importantly, it means valuing apprenticeships as much as other routes.
Across most policy areas, there is a focus on announcements and spin without delivering related results.
On apprenticeships, they must deliver meaningful change, for Scotland’s young people will judge them on their deeds, not their words.
Share