Apprentice system needs reform: Labor

Data released by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research this week shows over two-in-five apprentices and trainees who commenced training in 2014 did not complete their courses.

The NCVER report shows for those who started training in 2014 among all occupations, just 56.7 per cent completed their course, down 3.2 percentage points from those who started in 2013.

Completion rates for trade occupations were down 4.7 percentage points compared to those who started in 2013 and were two percentage points lower for those doing training for non-trade occupations.

Labor's assistant spokeswoman for skills Ged Kearney says the coalition government has had six years to turn this around but has failed to take action.

She says vocational education has been severely damaged by a cut of more than $3 billion in funding, the closure of TAFE campuses and allowing "dodgy for-profit providers" to gouge the system.

"The VET sector needs immediate and urgent reform," Ms Kearney said in a statement on Saturday.

She added that while Skills Minister Michaelia Cash says she wants to see the VET and university sectors on equal footing, the Liberals have failed to commit to the funding and reform required to achieve this important outcome.

"The Liberals must put TAFE back at the centre of the sector, tackle the failures of privatisation and fund the sector properly," she said.

"With youth unemployment stuck at more than double the national average, young people need a decent skills sector that leads them to secure work."

In 2018, 1.1 million students enrolled in government-funded vocational education and training, a decrease of 1.9 per cent compared to 2017.

Australian Associated Press