A 16-year-old Armagh boy abandoned hope of taking his place on a trade course he had set his heart on after countless attempts to secure an apprenticeship failed.
His mother said he had been forced to reconsider his career path due to a cruel ‘Catch 22’ situation which is also impacting many others.
Despite endless efforts and multiple emails and phone calls, the teenager was left with little option – either change course or quit his education altogether.
His mum, who did not wish to be named, said young people who wanted to work and learn were finding the door of opportunity slammed firmly in their face.
Turning to Armagh I, she spoke to highlight a situation which she says is preventing many young people from learning a trade and hopes that, by doing so, others might be more successful in pinning down a placement.
She explained: “You get an interview and you’re accepted then, based on your grades from GCSEs and whatever. Then you go back and they’ll talk to you about the different types of courses, where the college course is going to be. It was the SRC in Portadown for his course, the plumbing and tiling.
“You do one day with them, or it could be a maximum of two, in college, and the rest is out on an apprenticeship, on placement basically.
“You need an apprenticeship. We had somebody lined up who then had to take a big job on. That was fine and we accepted that. He was left with nobody.
“I’d say there’s about 15 or 20 parents I know are all sitting in the same position that nobody is getting a chance. There’s no tradesmen looking to take on the apprenticeships.
“The SRC are allowing you to apply for them. But tradesmen just don’t want to take them on because they have to pay them now. But you can’t start the course unless you have one.”
Her son was due to have an appointment this week and, unable to confirm he had secured an apprenticeship, meant he had to reconsider his choice or quit completely.
“I think it’s a running thing that’s been going on for a while,” added the mystified mum. “ It’s only that we were in this position that I highlighted it with people I know.
“There’s about five or six that I know out of his friends. That’s not even people that have applied from Portadown, Newry, Dungannon.
“We rang and rang and emailed and messaged and called everywhere that we could possibly think of. Everyone said, nope, not taking on apprenticeships. We contacted about 50 different business owners but could not secure anyone to take him on to train.
“I know they have to pay them. I think it’s minimum wage for their work for training. I get that that’s not suitable for most employers, because you’re training somebody on a wage. But something has to give, because there’s people here that’s not getting into anything.
“It takes them out of education at 16 or 17 years of age and with nowhere to go.
“What are we teaching our children? You bring them up and say, work hard, do what you want to do, work at it, train at it. What are they going to do?”
Essentially, no apprenticeship means no course, and no course means no training, and that, ultimately, equals no job.
The mother believes that, on the one hand, some form of subsidy should be made available from Stormont, a financial incentive to tradesmen to take on young apprentices.
On the other, she feels Southern Regional College should also be helping students to secure training placements too.
“Surely SRC should have a list of businesses that are willing to take on new apprenticeships every September,” added the Armagh mum. “Or cut the class. It doesn’t work.
“Trades are already dying. Anybody would tell you trying to find a plumber, trying to find an electrician is like hen’s teeth, because the trades aren’t there. The way the world is, everybody’s going computers, numbers, data, marketing, design. The ordinary man’s trade, it’s not what it used to be. Where are we getting them?
“The door’s being closed in their faces and they are having to go and find something else in life. It’s very disheartening.
“What do you tell your child, the child that you bought their first tool kit? Something has to be highlighted, why are they taking 20 to 30 people in a class? When my son went to his first interview there, the girl he was talking to down in the Tech in Portadown said he was one of two people out of the whole class that did have somebody to take them on. Now there’s only one.
“How are you physically teaching an empty classroom? Is there some way businesses will come forward and put their business to the Tech and say ‘we’ll be a training business’? It’s the same way as nursing, the same way as teaching. Yes, it might not be a university-based education, but it’s still training, it’s still a placement.
“You’re looking somebody that is willing to take them on, but obviously you don’t want somebody to take them on and tell them £20 a day for working 12-hour days. You want somebody to treat them with respect, teach them the job, but they still need paid.”
The mother is angry that the overall impact on some young people could be that they will be left feeling unemployable through no fault of their own.
This, in turn, she believes also has the potential to lead young people down paths they should be firmly steered away from…
“Some may drop their course and try another, or drop education altogether,” she said. “Now, at 16/17, this is very wrong and an impressionable age for any child to get dragged into something bad. This town needs to help young men, not turn its backs on them.”
The concerned mother believes answers – and action – are needed now to help young people forge a future, a career path, which they would wish to follow, instead of telling them it’s all over for them before it even begins.
“There are young people out there who just want to work,” she said. “They just want to get a job, get their trade going and make something of themselves but are being prevented from doing that.”
Armagh I approached Southern Regional College but they have declined to comment.
