Apprenticeships: crisis, what crisis?

Business

They should not be criticized for using government money to train staff, said the former head of quango

When Simon Waugh said his resignation as executive chairman of the National Apprenticeship Service last month, the same day as Geoff Russell, the head of its parent organization, the Funding Agency Skills , announced his retirement, which, naturally, raised his eyebrows.

over the last six months, the NAS has been under increased scrutiny for not acting on the problem of education providers that offer short learning while the recommended minimum is about one year . Some vendors, such as De Vere Hotel Group, was the transfer of securities within 12 weeks or less.

NAS and FAS has also been criticized for giving money to large public companies such as Asda and Morrisons to train current employees, in some cases generate huge profits for private companies that provide the training on their behalf.

The news that the leaders of both organizations, two of the highest positions of training) has fueled speculation in the industry give the two men jumped before being pushed - a situation that n was not helped by the way the announcement was handled. Although Waugh said the announcement of two children was "coincidence", an official told the Guardian newspaper education SFA was planned that way.

Today Waugh is ready to make things clear. His decision to leave was purely motivated by the need to spend time with his family after the death of the mother of his four children, at the end of last year, explains.

He is angry about the pressure he faced to explain the reasons for his departure. "So I have to explain to reporters something that is incredibly personal to me and my family," he says. "What a terrible world we live in"

But he is willing to give his analysis of the learning landscape, and he thinks the problems have been blown out of proportion. "There is a very small percentage of programs that are of poor quality and I have been around for months Inevitably, as it grows, it will be the suppliers who do not do things as they should -. And we were to spend time growing ensure the quality of each program. "

have already been taken by a new set of rules introduced last April. Specification of apprenticeship standards for England (SASE) provides that each trainee must receive up to 280 hours of guided learning (time in education and training away from their normal duties) each year, and should, in theory, prevent abuse of the system. Under the new measures the government due to the introduction in August, all apprentices aged 16 to 18 years of age must be at least a year, and NAS is to determine whether similar rules could apply for older students

The NAS has neither the budget nor the resources to keep track of what each student is in place, says Waugh. The workforce was reduced by 25% over the last six months, he said. And because funding is allocated to learning universities or training companies, which may in turn subcontract to other providers, reports of "immoral, illegal or inappropriate" behavior can take months to achieve the organization.

is more than 40 minutes in an interview an hour before Waugh, admits that the NAS could have done more, that "there are things we have to correct, do better."

He admits to underestimating the apprentice were political hot potato. "I'm a fucking idiot for being naive, I have not really done," said

Waugh does not accept that the NAS is a mistake to work with large companies like McDonalds and Morrisons. What the critics do not recognize, he says, is that these companies are not only taking government grants to subsidize training. The "anti-big business" argument ignores the fact that these companies give people the opportunity to develop literacy and numeracy, which provides overall benefits to society - and do so in working hours, says Waugh

This could be, but is it fair to call these training programs of learning? Can an operator of 18, payment with respect to, for example, beds in practices that could take years to learn their craft? Rejects such questions as "posh".

Find best price for : --news----Morrisons----Waugh--