Dr. Mary-Liz Trant:

There has been a lot of work recently with colleagues in ETBs and ETBI. There is a big focus on access to apprenticeship courses and pre-apprenticeship courses. We have identified 86 of those around the country in education and training boards. There are also a range of them in higher education. Those programmes, which meet learners where they are, include skills like developing literacy and numeracy but also life skills; a lot of that happens. The whole idea is to have a pathway for young people and older people to get a job, to get employment as an apprentice and then continue their training. It is a really good stepping stone and pathway and works really well. Our intention is to build on that.

We are also considering introducing a financial bursary linked to those courses because there are real financial challenges owing to the cost of living and so on, even to get started on their apprenticeship, get a set of tools, arrange accommodation or whatever it is. That work is advancing now and we are looking forward to making progress on it. It is a really good vehicle to develop the kinds of skills that have been identified in the area the Deputy was speaking about.