Each year, between 60 and 65 thousand young New Zealanders leave school. Around a third go to university. Most of the rest find employment, but about 11% become unemployed. Only 6% enter apprenticeships.
In contrast, under Germany’s world-renowned ‘dual training’ system, around half of school leavers enter apprenticeships. The term,‘dual training’ refers to the joint responsibility of employers and technical education institutions to train apprentices.
What accounts for the stark difference between apprenticeship participation in New Zealand and Germany? I explore this question in my new report, Trade Routes, launched this week.
Trade Routes makes recommendations to improve apprenticeship pathways through secondary and tertiary education, and to enhance work-integrated learning. In this column, I focus on the recommendations for secondary school.
Germany has a two-track high school system. After age ten, students either attend a Gymnasium (Grammar school) to prepare for university or a Realschule to prepare for an apprenticeship.
In contrast, New Zealand’s unitary secondary school system is geared towards university preparation. Most schools focus less on vocational education, which is typically cast as a second-tier alternative. We need to work towards apprenticeships enjoying equal status with university education.
Tracking children at the age of ten would be unthinkable here. However, schools specialising in either university-track or vocational-track education at the senior secondary level would make students’ options clearer to them.
Schools specialising in vocational education could concentrate on preparing students for apprenticeships. They could gear their timetables and programmes to integrate learning in workplaces and tertiary institutions.
Youth Guarantee comprises a bundle of existing initiatives supporting secondary pathways into apprenticeships. These are individually useful, but they are not joined up. Each has different eligibility criteria and funding arrangements.
The Trades Academies programme enables students to undertake dual enrolment in secondary and tertiary education. The Gateway fund supports schools and employers to deliver structured workplace-based education. STAR funding supports students’ transition from school to work or further study.
Youth Guarantee comprises a bundle of existing initiatives supporting secondary pathways into apprenticeships. These are individually useful, but they are not joined up. Each has different eligibility criteria and funding arrangements.
The Trades Academies programme enables students to undertake dual enrolment in secondary and tertiary education. The Gateway fund supports schools and employers to deliver structured workplace-based education. STAR funding supports students’ transition from school to work or further study.
Dr Michael Johnston’s research report, Trade Routes, was published 19 March.