PM launches regional apprentice scheme

The Prime Minister, Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP, recently launched a local apprenticeship scheme during a visit to BT Adastral Park in Suffolk.

The Federated Apprenticeship Scheme offers young adults employed by small and medium enterprises in the East of England the chance to achieve an information communication technology qualification.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: "This scheme shows how companies working together with government can find solutions to their skills needs and develop real opportunities for young people around them. By working together, we can make ourselves both more resilient to the downturn and ensure we are ahead of the game when the upturn comes."

There will be 30 places available on the scheme, which is open to apprentices aged 19-plus from a broad range of small businesses that use IT or sell IT services.

Sir Michael Rake, BT's chairman and also chairman of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, said: "Young people have a great deal to offer the economy and BT is wholly committed to equipping apprentices with the necessary tools to thrive in the innovation age."

To help address the need for greater IT skills in the East England region, a new organisation has been formed to collaborate on learning and skills development, as well as set up and oversee the new scheme.

Called Innovation for the Digital Economic Age (IDEA), the organisation comprises Suffolk New College, the University of East Anglia, the University of Essex, University Campus Suffolk, University College London and BT.

BT will provide industry insight to the academic partners, tapping into its world-leading research and innovation capability. BT has 1,150 apprentices, increasing to 1,230 by September 2009. Around 8,000 applications were received for 350 positions this year.More here.