Category: apprenticeships

Adrienne Bird’s Book Published

MERSETA has now published Adrienne Bird’s book, From Sweeper to Engineer. You can access it via the front page of their website or down load it directly from this link.

It is a phenomenal piece of work but it does have an unfinished feel to it.

Darryl Mclean who was largely responsible for Chapter 12 made the point that, “Adrienne would never have published (it) as is.  She got to version 2.0, needed 4.0 before she’d have been happy. She did the baseline research, never fully got through analysis.”

In my last meeting with her, just a few weeks before she died we discussed some of the issues that are currently bedevilling the recognition of learning in and for the workplace. We couldn’t complete the conversation at the time and were going to discuss it at a later date, as I’m sure she would have done with the other people who contributed.

Dual System Pilot Project workshop

We had a two day workshop addressing issues that have been plaguing this project for some time. But we also a look ahead. How do we track progress? What are those indicators that will help us measure impact. And what do the indicators we are measuring mean for the project.

At a deeper level we were examining how the various role players  meshed to deliver something of value: Quality Council for Trades and Occupations; Department of Higher Education and Training; National Artisan Moderating Body; TVET Colleges; Industry associations/registration bodies and employers who take on the apprentices and, of course, the the key target population the apprentices themselves. Do not forget the last – they are highly critical, politicised and focused in getting value from the system

At the heart of all the discussion was a central point – How do we restructure education and training systems to provide employment opportunities for young people?