East Kilbride MSP Collette Stevenson has hailed recent figures showing that the number of apprenticeships is recovering towards pre-pandemic levels.
During Scottish Apprenticeship Week 2022 – which takes place between March 7 and 11 – Ms Stevenson is meeting with employers and apprentices and also gave a speech on the subject in the Scottish Parliament.
Earlier this week, Ms Stevenson visited Westrock Packaging in East Kilbride, a global company specialising in innovative packaging, and met with apprentices and managers to learn more about the opportunities offered in engineering roles.
And as part of Scottish Apprenticeship Week, the annual apprenticeship awards take place on Wednesday, March 9 – and East Kilbride is well-represented in the finalists list with three nominations.
In her speech at Holyrood, Ms Stevenson highlighted the opportunities available – to both young people and employers – from apprenticeships and reflected on this year’s theme of “Apprenticeships Work”.
In South Lanarkshire figures from Skills Development Scotland show that there were 1,464 Modern Apprenticeship (MA) starts up to the end of 2019/20, 670 in 2020/21 and 1,241 this year (2021/22).
Ms Stevenson told Lanarkshire Live : “Scottish Apprenticeship Week shines a light on the vital role apprenticeships play in supporting people, employers and the economy.
“It’s great to meet with apprentices here in East Kilbride.
"I was really impressed by the work of Westrock Packaging – including their focus on nurturing talent and supporting more young people into engineering.
"Some of their apprentices get taught by East Kilbride and District Engineering Group Training Association – so I am looking forward to visiting there on Friday.
“I welcome recent figures showing that almost twice the number of apprenticeships have been started by the end of September this year compared to the same period last year – and the number of apprenticeships being started is getting back towards the numbers we saw before the pandemic.
“I would recommend young people in East Kilbride to consider an apprenticeship – there’s many opportunities available, including in construction, life sciences and transport.
"Apprenticeships are crucial to delivering opportunities for young people while ensuring we have a well-qualified workforce.”
Skills Development Scotland chairman and Scottish Apprenticeship Advisory Board co-chairman, Frank Mitchell, said: “When it comes to supporting sustainable skills through workforce development or providing opportunities for young people, we know that apprenticeships work.
“The combination of commitment from employers and the backing of Scottish Government will ensure apprenticeships work for everyone, making a significant contribution to Scotland’s recovery and productivity growth.”
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