Cuts threaten to end training position for Oban teenager
AN OBAN builder has accused the Scottish Government of discrimination after it cut funding halfway through his son’s modern apprenticeship, threatening to end training for him and ‘30’ other students.
Ronald Gordon’s son Sean, 17, achieved his level 2 SVQ in furniture-making in Oban - a university town - and hoped to progress to a level 3 SVQ and HND. But Skills Development Scotland (SDS) has halved the funding to Sean’s trainer and assessor, making it harder for him to find work in future if he doesn’t pay thousands to finish his course.
Mr Gordon explained: ‘I find it extraordinary my son’s funding has been stopped with no alternatives offered. This affects approximately 30 students across Scotland who have lost their opportunity to further their education.
‘Why is there a huge amount of funding for wind turbine and bus mechanics, but little or no funding for these students? I find it discriminating. It’s almost, ‘Let’s get rid of this industry’.’
Sean’s employer, Oban furniture-maker Michael Acey, found David Young Enterprises to train and assess Sean in Oban, so his small business didn’t lose Sean to college for six months each year. ‘Sean has been sailing through everything,’ said Michael, but ‘unfortunately for us all, David Young can’t access the funding to run the training programme. Why? It’s bitterly disappointing.
‘The government speaks about the abundance of modern apprenticeships it is generating, but failing those people who are already trying to complete one seems completely wrong.
‘If he is forced to leave, it would be a massive loss to me and the future of our industry. This will be detrimental to my business growth, local employment and the trade I feel so passionate about keeping alive.
‘There are committed youngsters turning up to work on time every day having their dreams taken away by a government failing to see their potential.’
Anne Wheatley, operations manager at David Young Enterprises in Perthshire, added: ‘A promising young man has potentially been denied the opportunity of a higher level qualification.
‘We can no longer sustain the work. This is the end of an era for us and the end of modern apprentices for the furniture-making industry in Scotland.’
While David Young won’t close, another training provider told The Oban Times the cuts had forced many others out of business and reduced the quality of qualifications.
Over three years, Scottish Government funding for modern apprenticeships fell for twice as many trades as it rose.
Contributions for ages 16-19 dropped 47 per cent in furniture-making, from £6,000 in 2016-17 to £3,200 in 2018-19 – the same drop as the glass industry. Funding also fell in youth work from £6,000 to £2,700, printing from £6,500 to £3,200, hairdressing from £5,000 to £2,700 and in agriculture, aquaculture and pharmacy from £6,500 to £4,500. The engineering, gas, automotive, heating and wind turbine industries saw rises ranging from £200 to £1,300.
A Holyrood spokesman said it increased SDS’s budget by seven per cent to £193 million to meet its target of 30,000 modern apprentices by 2020. He said: ‘Modern apprenticeships are employer-led and therefore based on demand. This course is currently unavailable for 2018/19 as no training providers bid to deliver it.’
The ‘five people this affects’, he said, can progress to a higher level at colleges in Greenock, Paisley, Kilwinning, Forth Valley and Fife.
Oban councillor Elaine Robertson called it ‘incomprehensible and unacceptable’ for Sean’s ‘necessary funding’ to be suddenly cut, arguing at the very least he should be able to finish under the same rules as he started. She said: ‘We recently launched Oban as a University Town and are encouraging young people to stay in the area for their vocational and tertiary education and training. Here we have an example of that choice being denied.’