Apprenticeships

Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Northern Ireland – in the House of Commons at 11:30 am on 10 January 2007.

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Photo of David Hanson David Hanson The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office 11:30, 10 January 2007

The hon. Gentleman makes the important point that we need to ensure that people in Northern Ireland are skilled for the jobs of the future. We have put in place three levels of apprenticeship. Both apprenticeships for 16 to 24-year-olds are key levels of training, and I hope that the whole House supports the fact that we have also put in place pre-apprenticeship training in schools for 14 to 16-year-olds, so that they can begin to examine the menu of options available to them and enter full apprenticeships after leaving school at 16. Only by ensuring that we have the top level of skills for people in Northern Ireland will we be able to compete with India, China and the rest of the world in due course.