Labor has pledged $3 million to bolster apprenticeship training but the Coalition has dismissed the scheme as a 'con'. Students in Years nine to 12 would be allowed to begin trade qualifications if Labor is re-elected, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said on a visit to Richmond High School in northwest Sydney.
Vocational courses studied at high school would then count toward apprenticeships, under the new system of National Trade Cadetships.
However, Ms Gillard also had to admit that the government had only delivered 22 trades training centres, which was a key promise in Labor's 2007 election campaign.
Opposition education spokesman Christopher Pyne told ABC news that in reality, only a fraction of the promised training centres had actually been built.
Mr Pyne claims just 13 of the 230 trade training centres have been built.
"How are these so-called cadets going to actually access a program where they're supposed to use trade training centres and yet there are only 13 in operation around Australia?" he said.
"It's another con from Julia Gillard."
Apprenticeships combine vocational training with a wage and apprentices gain nationally recognised qualifications while getting valuable on the job experience. Find apprenticeships from a range of providers across Australia.