I do not see what an MA co-ordinator can do for my apprentices that I am not already doing and yet they get over $2k for each of my MA apprentices.  I would rather see this money target towards employers who take on apprentices and drip fed over the 4000 hours and become an incentive to take on apprentices.  The employer needs to show that they are competent to have apprentices and have a system for checking on pre-block course reading, employer verification etc to be eligible.  This money could then be used in house to run mentoring schemes, or be used by the employer to offset some of the apprenticeship training.  What our ITO have done is take away the working at heights and confined spaces from the apprenticehip funded training so the employer now has to pick this up, while the government are giving this.  It would be better to see this money bring down the cost of apprenticeships. 

Often the MA's are not plumber themselves, but more administrators and co-ordinators who are checking the apprentice is keeping up with their study and bookwork, is getting a good variety of work and a full training - but all of this should be done by the employer anyway.  In Australia they have some good incentive pogrammes for employers who train apprentices.  There is not a huge % of our trades that take on apprentices and with the increase in fees possibly even less.  The costs to employers is quite high (unless they make the apprentice soley fund their apprenticeship) - and the additional costs of these two courses plus the provision of the standards adds around another thousand dollars of costs for the employer.  If you have a good MA in your area it can make a difference, especially if you are a one man band, I guess we just watch and see how it translates into our trades.  With the combining of the PGDRITO and the ETITO that could mean a wealth of people on the ground - but will it translate into higher achievement by our trainees?  Only time will tell.

hi guys this in todays news, 
 The Government's being urged to put money back into apprenticeships.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce is proposing changes to the apprenticeship system, which aim to boost the number of apprentices and increase support for training.

Council of Trade Unions secretary Peter Conway says the Government took $55 million out of the system in their last term.

"That is sorely needed back in the vocational training system. We're losing 50,000 people a year to Australia, a lot of them have skills this country needs."

Mr Conway is worried the system won't be big enough for what the country needs.