Trade groups aim to triple apprentice numbers

Builders, panel-beaters and electricians are going head-to-head with universities and polytechnics in a bid to enroll school leavers in apprenticeships instead of tertiary courses. Only four percent of young people go from school to trade training, and a new Got a Trade campaign is trying to drive the numbers up.It puts industry training in direct competition with tertiary institutions, and will reignite debate about whether university graduates or tradespeople are better off financially in the long run. Here's our education correspondent, John Gerritsen.