The PIAA expects the number of apprentices training through the Future Print program to triple from 44 to more than 123 by the end of March, but not everyone in the industry is sold on its training model.

PIAA training and employment general manager Joan Grace says 103 apprentices have now commenced training, already well ahead of the initial March estimate of 80, and 79 businesses have signed on as the program works towards target of connecting 250 printers with apprentices by July 2015.

“That’s the speed at which these new apprentices are flowing into the system,” she says.

Grace says the Future Print website, which features a jobs board businesses can use to list vacancies and recruit suitable applicants, and an apprenticeship matching service to help prospective trainees match their skills to opportunities in the industry, is fully operational and attracting many interested young people to the program.

[Related: More Future Print news]

The program is also making advances on organising its structural elements, like benchmarking guides for its competency-based approach, and recognition of prior learning guides – which are due for release this month.

“With the PIAA, the AMWU, a range of register training organisations, more than 60 businesses, and a growing number of apprentices involved in the program, it’s very important for us to make sure that the structure and information is in place so that everyone can get the most out of their involvement,” she says.

“We’re delighted with the response we’ve had from existing and potential employees to the training opportunities and with the way employers are embracing the model and welcoming new apprentices on board. There’s never been a better time to consider putting on an apprentice.”

However, Eastern Studios Graphics director Roy Aldrich, a member of the Victorian and Tasmanian Printing Industry Training Action Committee, is not sold on Future Print’s ‘blended’ model, which incorporates both on-site training at printers’ facilities and traditional off-site workshops and classroom training.

He says the traditional off-site model, which was used by RMIT until it shut down its long-standing print training in 2012, provides the best training for apprentices and is what the Victorian printing industry is crying out for.

“The message I’m getting from people in the industry is that on-the-job training is not getting it done and that they would almost rather send apprentices to South Australia where they can get what RMIT used to do,” he says.

“There’s an absolute need for it. It might not be what the PIAA wants, but it is what the industry thinks is essential.”

Aldrich says while he respects the effort the PIAA has put in, he believes it has not properly consulted with Victorian printers, and says that unless his preferred model of training is reestablished the industry will be unable to provide adequate training and apprenticeships.

[Related: More training news]

Gary Cobbledick, managing director of training institute Spectra, which trains Victorian Future Print apprentices along with all those learning flexible packaging (unlike other states where the program partners with TAFEs and Print Training Australia), does not think a one-size-fits-all model is the best way forward.

“Some people prefer the on-the-job model because they are in a real work environment working on real print projects, and for most people 70 per cent of learning is by doing,” he says.

“It’s been increasingly welcomed and well-received. We have many printers totally committed to our training regime and wouldn’t consider sending apprentices to a completely off-site facility – they don’t want to lose the apprentices for days at a time and don’t see it as the most productive use of their time.”

Cobbledick says Spectra print training comprises of three key elements – a classroom workshop, usually done in the employer’s boardroom, to teach underpinning knowledge; one-on-one coaching and mentoring sessions; and practical training in the printer’s facility.

“Off-site training elements don’t have to be done at a TAFE,” he says.

Aldrich says the Action Committee was ready to open an RMIT-style training program in conjunction with a major Victorian TAFE institute, having secured teachers, funding and equipment along with support from suppliers, but a necessary $1m in state government funding was yanked out at the last minute.

He says ‘it’s not over’ and hopes a new arrangement can be established soon. He says the government should use the support it was giving the soon-to-depart car manufacturers to help the printing industry.

[Feature: Training in turmoil]

Cobbledick says Spectra has expanded its print training offering to include 15 streams, such as litho, digital, and packaging, in the three core areas of printing, finishing and graphic pre-press.

He says apprentices are a small but important supplement to its own print training operations and expects them to grow significantly in the future.

“Future Print is a worthwhile project that is a good way of putting stakeholders together. I think it has stimulated interest in training for both printers and the apprentices themselves,” he says.

“The website is well organised and made it more real for everyone involved, and it’s getting great results – we are comfortable with the process and it’s good to see everything coming together.”

Comment below to have your say on this story.

If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.  

Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter