More questions than answers as Vince Cable talks up apprenticeship schemes

In parallel, the traditional apprenticeship fell out of favour; partly due to employers not wanting to incur the cost of training, but also due to school leavers perceiving manufacturing and engineering as 'sunset industries'. Combined, these trends made getting a job outside the so-called 'service' industries much harder. At the end of 2013, Business secretary Dr Vince Cable flagged his displeasure with this state of affairs, talking about 'qualification inflation'. The consequence is that someone who has invested three or four years of study - and, more recently, £9000 a year in tuition fees - could end up asking whether you wanted 'fries with that'. Now Dr Cable has returned to the theme with a call for 'elite apprenticeships', saying these should include progression to degree level and beyond. These apprenticeships should be supported by a new generation of national colleges focused on higher level technical training. At this point, you start wondering about left hands and right hands because, only a couple of weeks ago, we reported on the fact that students in England will not be able to follow GCSEs or A levels in engineering, electronics and manufacturing because they 'overlapped' with the design and technology curriculum. But what does Dr Cable mean when he uses the phrase 'elite apprenticeship'? Who are these 'elite' people and how might they be identified? Shouldn't all apprenticeship schemes be looking to create top quality employees? And when might this scheme start? There are, as they say, more questions than answers at the moment. One thing is clear; the scheme will only work with the broad support of employers and with the establishment of this network of national colleges he calls for. Until both happen, it's just more words.