School-based traineeships: A win-win situation

With post-covid skill shortages, school-based apprenticeships have become a commercial strategy for recruiting employees.

School-based traineeships were created in the 1990s as a retention tool for high school students who were expected to continue for an additional two years.  It was also at a period when young unemployment was as high as 40% in some areas.  SBTs have proven quite popular in states such as Queensland, but less so in WA, where they were invented.  
School-based traineeships are official arrangements in which students combine their academic education with paid on-the-job training. These traineeships often include part-time work, usually one or two days per week, in addition to regular school attendance.

School-based traineeships provide students with the chance to receive practical on-the-job experience in addition to the skills training provided by the RTO.  The school provides them with assistance and general education.  Employers profit from the arrangement by contributing to a young person's growth and development as well as being allowed to instruct a young person in the manner of their choice.  Importantly, they have the opportunity to try out the young person before committing to full-time work.  While there is a commitment, as demonstrated by the training contract, all parties recognise the arrangement's experimental nature.  There is a lot to be gained for both the business and the employee for the considerable percentage of SBTs who become full-time workers at the end of the training term.
Even if the employer and the SBT split ways at the end of the contract, numerous benefits will have been generated along the road.  In addition to the skills and information gained via training, school-based traineeships enable students to build crucial networks. They interact with professionals, mentors, and coworkers who can provide direction and may become future references or employers.  Most importantly, they mature and become work-ready. 

Skills Strategies International's school-based traineeship programme, designed in collaboration with the public sector, is still in existence today.  The programme to recruit young people into the public sector was launched by the Public Sector.  The combination of on-the-job training, skill and knowledge development, and educational support produced some extraordinary young individuals, many of whom rose to positions of leadership at an early age.  

So, what qualifications are required for a school-based traineeship?  An employer with a vacancy, a student wanting to work part-time while attending school, and an RTO eager to collaborate with both the employer and the student.  The other configurations resemble a "normal" traineeship.  The most challenging agreement for the student and company to manage is the recruitment arrangement.  However, many students hold part-time jobs that may be converted to traineeships, allowing them to gain two subjects every year as part of their work.  After that, the possibilities are limitless.