Nearly 20,000 people in Scotland have started a modern apprenticeship over the past year, and are now receiving training and skills development to help them into long-term employment, First Minister Alex Salmond announced today.

This exceeds the Scottish Government's target of delivering more than 18,500 Modern Apprenticeships, set as part of last year's Budget.

The First Minister made the announcement at The Edinburgh Construction Group's site at the University of Edinburgh. The small company with 25 employees has taken on one new apprentice through the £1000 Apprenticeship Grant and adopted a further four apprentices who were at risk of becoming unemployed under the Adopt an Apprentice Programme.

Mr Salmond said: "Delivering 18,500 Modern Apprenticeships in a time of severe economic turbulence as well as tight public expenditure due to the £500 million Westminster cuts has been challenging. We have exceeded the target and nearly 20,000 people have been given a real opportunity to gain the skills, training and experience needed for successful, long-term employment.

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"Skills Development Scotland has worked hard with employers, young people and adults to make this happen. Visiting The Edinburgh Construction Company today, the full benefits of the apprenticeships are clear. Individuals are getting a vital training opportunity, apprentices are being saved from redundancy and small businesses are being supported, in difficult times, to develop new talent to the long-term benefit of their workforce.

"Today's unemployment figures show that the challenges from the recession and downturn remain. However, it is encouraging to see that the number of 18 - 24 year olds in employment in Scotland remains higher than the rest of the UK. Our apprenticeship scheme will continue to help people into employment and make a significant contribution to the Scottish Government's drive to support a strong recovery for the Scottish economy."

Directing resources towards skills and training to manage the ongoing employment pressures in Scotland is a crucial element of the Scottish Government's Economic Recovery Plan. Work is underway across the public sector to deliver that plan, accelerate recovery and improve the long term performance of Scotland's economy.

The Scottish Government is committed to modern apprenticeships as part of our strategy to deliver skills solutions for current and emerging Scottish needs. All Modern Apprentices in Scotland must be in paid employment.

The Scottish Government has announced much support for the Apprenticeship Programme over the last few months. An additional £16 million was invested to deliver an additional 7800 new start apprentices in 2009/10. This took the total number of new starts in 2009/10 to 18,500, a 73 per cent increase on the previous year.

(GK/BMcc)