Quantity over quality: Auditor general sees problems at Apprenticeship Manitoba

Apprenticeship Manitoba has been too focused on growth and not focused enough on the quality of education for the province's apprentices, according to a new report from the auditor general of Manitoba

The report, released on Tuesday, showed that while the number of people entering apprentice programs has dramatically increased, there is not enough oversight when it comes to their in-school or on-the-job training.

"They've been really focused on growing and getting more and more apprentices rather than focusing on the quality of education," said Auditor General Norm Ricard.

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Manitoba has 55 designated trades, ranging from carpeting and plumbing to hairdressing, and nine have compulsory apprenticeships;the rest are voluntary.

Apprenticeship Manitoba, which is a branch of the Department of Education and Training, administers the province's apprenticeship program.

Ricard said it was important to look at the Apprenticeship Manitoba because it was showing a lot of growth, and the auditor general wanted to see how it was managing.

Apprentice numbers grow, but monitoring lags

According to the report, the number of apprentices between 2006 and 2016 grew 93 per cent to 11,307 from 5,850but the number of apprentices completing programs remained flat.

"The key there is that it hasn't gone up to show the increase in the number of apprentices. So one of the concerns that we have is the program itself has been focused on increasing apprentices but they have not been focusing on monitoring apprentices progress," Ricard said.

"So we are concerned that number of apprentices that they are showing is significantly inflated because there may be a number of people are no longer on the program."

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While growth can be great, Ricard said, Apprenticeship Manitoba doesn't calculate graduation rates, either in total or by trade.

"Understanding graduation rates can tell you a lot about the program," he said, adding it can show if people are succeeding or if changes need to be made.

Apprenticeship Manitoba also doesn't have occupational forecasts for its apprentice trades, meaning the training people are doing isn't necessarily aligned with the needs of Manitoba's industry.

Site visits infrequent, undocumented

The report didn't simply findissues with numbers. Apprenticeship Manitoba's visits to workplaces were infrequent and undocumented, itsaid.

"When they were doing site visits we found the focus wasn't on ensuring a suitable work environment or adequate supervision, it was on growing the program," Ricard said. "It was on promoting the apprenticeship program to the employer and trying to have more apprentices on staff."

Employers also were only required to report the number of hours the apprentice worked, not any information about the actual work the apprentice was doing even though Manitoba's apprenticeship legislation requires employers to report this information

Ricard said that means apprentices could be doing work that's completely unrelated to developing the skills they need in the trade.

To become a journeyperson, apprentices spend about 80 per cent of their time out on the job, but in-school learning comprisesabout 20 per cent of the program.

However, the report found, there weren't assurances that the training courses actually met all accreditation requirements. The report added Apprenticeship Manitoba also could not assure that all instructors were qualified or that the facilities had suitable tools or equipment.

'They play an important role'

The report outlined 20 recommendations, including better monitoring of apprentice work and tracking graduation rates. Thethe auditor general will assess the progress in Sept. 2018.

"They play an important role in ensuring that Manitoba will have good quality trades people down the road, and I am hopeful they will be taking the 20 recommendations fully to heart and applying them and beyond," Ricard said.

A response from Manitoba Education and Training, which was included in the report, said"actions are already underway to address many of the recommendations," but many will require working with industry.

"Manitoba Education and Training would like to thank the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) for its thorough review of the apprenticeship program," said Manitoba Education and Training Minister Ian Wishart, in an email to CBC News.

"The department accepts the recommendations in the report. Work is already underway to address many of the recommendations, including the development of a new strategic plan for Apprenticeship Manitoba."

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