Inspiring our young apprentices with real opportunities

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 Monday, October 14, 2019 - 10:44
Inspiring our young apprentices with real opportunities

By ELLIOTT PHILLIPS, GSD candidate

ELECTION 2019

After participating in politics since 2011, I can honestly say that I am excited about the prospect of being able to introduce an apprenticeship programme which will, for the first time, allow for an well designed pathway for those young people within our community who do not wish to pursue higher education. We need to create a tailor made approach to guiding our young people which takes into account the current skills needs of our community and where we want to take our community in the future. If we are serious as a community about encouraging and persuading big business to come to Gibraltar, we need to demonstrate that our young people possess the skills to fill the jobs that this economic activity will create. 

Brexit has shone a torch on the skills’ cliff edge and has presented our community with a perfect opportunity to meet that the challenge. I passionately believe that only a GSD Government offers our young people the opportunity to have a sustainable and dignified job.

I have spent most of my political career, attempting to persuade the GSLP of the value of introducing an apprenticeship scheme and skills’ learning- they have rejected our call. It is clear that they don’t speak our language or the language of the many young people who are crying our for a decent job and opportunity. This election offers two visions for the future (1) a continuation of the GSLP’s policy of parking our young people in undignified dead end jobs on a minimum wage with no hope or aspiration for progressions; or (2) a GSD skills and training policy which provides an opportunity for our young people to learn a trade, skills, a craft or modern technology driven skills in our new Technology College of Skills and Technology. The GSD will also introduce T-Levels and the opportunity to those successful students to upgrade to Degree Apprenticeships in conjunction with the University of Gibraltar.

We recognise that learning a skill in the modern context is as good as a degree from an external University and we cannot continue to neglect and leave young people behind.

We welcome the investment in our schools. However, not providing opportunities for all of our young people has created lost generation of young people. We believe that each child and young person is as valuable to our community as the next and it is for this reason that our programme for Government has a flagship commitment to those young people who do not go on to wish to study at undergraduate level. GSD investment in our young people will create a highly skilled and energetic work force of the future in both the public and private sector.

Gibraltar’s future is dependent, in the main, on our human resources and investing in skills can only deliver a stronger, agile, and more prosperous economy, whatever the challenges presented by Brexit. Only the GSD has a fully evolved and matured plan for the skills’ training which has at the centre, the interests of our young people.

Gibraltar First Always, Vote for a future you deserve, Vote all 10 GSD candidates.

14-10-2019 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR