ALA

New figures out today show South Australia has achieved a sharp rise in the number of people embarking on apprenticeships and traineeships, and is outstripping the nation.

Data released by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) for the March 2008 Quarter, shows that 7,500 new apprentices and trainees commenced their training in the three month period, 16 per cent higher than the March quarter last year.

Training Minister, Paul Caica says this is almost three times higher than the national rise of 5.5 per cent and is the largest quarterly rise in four years.

“This comes off the back of a substantial 9 per cent rise for the full year, taking the total number of new apprentices and trainees in South Australia for the year to 22,000,” he said.

“South Australia’s rise over the year is almost double the national rise of 4.8 per cent.

“These results show South Australians are recognising the quality of our State’s training system and the value of having work-ready skills.

“It is also very encouraging to see a 6 per cent increase in the number of South Australian apprentices and trainees who completed their training over the 12 months to March 31, compared to 2 per cent nationally.”

There is particularly good news in today’s figures for the traditional trades in this State, which recorded the highest level of training growth.

As at 31 March 2008, there were an estimated 13,000 people training in traditional trades, 7 per cent more a year earlier.

Both commencements and completions in the traditional trades also recorded strong growth – again outstripping the national figures. Traditional trades commencements were up by 22 per cent over the 12-month period (compared to 10 per cent nationally), and completions were up by 25 per cent on the previous year’s figure (compared to 14 per cent nationally).

“This tells us that the Government’s message about people needing to equip themselves to take advantage of future job demand in the expanding minerals and defence sectors is hitting home,” Minister Caica said.

Young people are also completing their training at an increasing rate, which augurs well for their career longevity. The NCVER data highlights an 11 per cent increase over 12 months in the completion figure for under 24-year-olds, almost double the national figure of 6 per cent.”

The total number of people in-training as at 31 March 2008 also increased slightly compared to12 months ago, with 33,900 apprentices and trainees in our system, 500 more than 12 months earlier.

Females accounted for 35 per cent of the State’s total number of apprentices and trainees, 2.3 percentage points higher than the national average.