Stockton North MP Alex Cunningham is supporting National Apprenticeship Week 2019 (NAW2019), highlighting the benefits of apprenticeships to employers, individuals, local communities and the wider economy in a week-long celebration of apprenticeships.
The ‘Blaze a Trail’ themed week, running from 4 to 8 March 2019, is the 12th annual National Apprenticeship Week (NAW2019) and will see a range of activities and events being hosted across the country, aimed at challenging the outdated views many people still have about apprenticeships.
Alex said: “This is a great opportunity to celebrate and promote apprenticeships to employers and potential apprentices of the future. I hope to be attending several events in Westminster that week that some of my constituents will be attending and hear about their experiences of being an apprentice, and to hear from the employers. As well as celebrating apprenticeships, we must be responsive to any problems or areas of improvement to ensure that apprentices are seen to be equally as valuable as any other route of further education or training.
“We cannot afford to be complacent about apprenticeship numbers though. The Government should be deeply concerned that the number of opportunities is dropping rapidly – in my constituency alone it is down from 1280 in 2016/17 to just 800 in 2017/18. Nationally numbers are down 17%.
MP’s, employers, apprentices, parents, schools and apprenticeship training providers have all shown their support for The Week through wearing an apprenticeship badge of support on social media channels; attending one of hundreds of events taking place across England and firing up the next wave of apprentices by encouraging them to join the Young Apprentice Ambassador Network.
