In it’s latest press release Oldham Council is once again patting itself on the back stating that “Oldham sees 24 per cent fall in 16-18 year-old NEETs” The release ignores the wider issues which saw a drop in apprenticeship 16-24 take ups in parts of Oldham probably due to the quality of the work on offer; examples being warehouse apprentice & reception apprentice. I also question some of the dubious claims of work experience, for example, 44 local youths on a film set for a film company with a tiny budget that did not pay staff a salary. I also question some of the disciplines in which apprenticeships are being created, for example, in the last week one of Oldham’s education establishments advertised for a “family engagement apprentice” an Internet search brings up just one apprenticeship or adult job opportunity for “family engagement” in the UK & it is in Oldham. It was renowned political theorist Hannah Arendt who questioned the validity of educational establishments teaching non-existent academic disciplines, we can also see this lack of validity in the deliberate creation of such fictional employment.
Apprenticeship Programme Starts for Oldham West & Royton dropped by 7.2% in 2012/13 from the previous year (Year being August to July).
09/04/2014