Fri, 15 May 2009
Charity director wants apprenticeship plan
for voluntary organisations.
Organisations in the voluntary sector should be provided with a specifically-tailored apprenticeship programme, it has been claimed.
Emma-Jane Cross, chief executive of the Beatbullying charity, told Third Sector magazine that apprenticeship schemes could offer a solution to skills shortages within charities and other non-profit organisations.
She said that while the benefits of on-the-job training are now widely recognised in the public and private spheres, third sector employers continue to work without the assistance of apprenticeships.
Writing in Third Sector this week, Ms Cross bemoaned the fact that "the closest most of us in the third sector get to seeing an apprentice is watching Alan Sugar's underlings battle it out on the BBC".
"Apprenticeship schemes have worked for some of the UK's biggest companies and address some of the biggest problems threatening the productivity, effectiveness and workforce of so many voluntary and not-for-profit organisations," she stated.
"The business case for third sector apprenticeships is widely recognised."
Citing a recent survey of 230 directors and decision-makers at charities in England, Ms Cross claimed that 86 per cent would employ an apprentice if there was a framework for the sector.
She revealed that Beatbullying currently employs three apprentices without funding, but suggested that many other organisations would be unwilling to follow the charity's example without official support.
According to Ms Cross, apprenticeships make "good business sense" and would also help third sector organisations to fulfil their "social responsibility to young people".
The government recently unveiled plans to new apprenticeships in the public sector, with schools, local councils and hospitals taking on 21,000 trainees in 2009-10.
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The learndirect team