Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

One of the biggest competitors for apprenticeships, if we can call it a competitor, is college. Going to college seems to be pushed through the focus in schools on exams and points and through the publication of league tables of schools. From my involvement as a parent and from my experience with boards of management and education and training boards, I know that league tables are not a measure of personal development or educational attainment. They are really only a tiny snapshot, but at the same time they influence the media, parents and teachers. These are significant people in encouraging a trainee along one channel or another. Is the Minister engaging with the different stakeholders to ensure they are aware of apprenticeship as an option, and to arm them or support them in encouraging the use of that option by their sons or daughters or the students in their school?

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