Fast-track apprentice programs aim to snip away skills-shortage

Canberra's hairdressers and panel-beaters, always on the lookout for apprentice assistants, may find much-needed relief in the Canberra Institute of Technology's (CIT) latest decision to introduce new accelerated apprenticeships in the two industries.

Hairdressers in particular find it extremely difficult to employ apprentices, meaning that many senior-hairdressers must juggle apprentices' work as well as their own.

It may come as a surprise that women, in particular, are not so keen to begin, let alone maintain, a career in hairdressing, and Canberra's director of International Hairstylists Society, Loretta Smith, feels that this is because it is viewed as hard-work, involving long-hours, and is a very demanding job with pressure to execute high-quality work.

New accelerated apprenticeships

CIT's new apprenticeship programs aims to provide consolidated, fast-track learning, skills development and training while maintaining comprehensiveness. This move is designed to allow skilled workers to enter the workforce and become qualified sooner. CIT's initiative also hopes to make apprenticeships more appealing to mature-age students and career changers.

The Australian Capital Territory's Education and Training Minister, Andrew Barr, believes that the Institute of Technology's programs will allow students to complete the same quality apprentice-training up to a significant 30% faster. And this will provide businesses and companies - especially in hairdressing and panelbeating - with quicker access to the skilled workers they seek, and hopefully provide a positive and effective approach to alleviating our skills-shortage problem.