COWDENBEATH MSP Annabelle Ewing has been delighted with the number of apprenticeships created in Fife over the past decade.

Ms Ewing has welcomed the publication of figures showing that the SNP has supported 13,855 Modern Apprenticeships in Fife in ten years of Government - with 37,000 young people currently going through an apprenticeship in Scotland.

The SNP manifesto has committed to delivering 30,000 apprenticeships each year by 2020, up from 15,000 when they took office, targeting the additional places on higher level courses, including graduate-level apprenticeships.

Commenting, Ms Ewing said: “I am delighted that as we celebrated this year’s Scottish Apprenticeship Week, the latest statistics show that the SNP Government has supported over 200,000 apprentices in 10 years.

“In Fife, we’ve seen huge growth in the number of apprenticeships since 2007 – increasing from 1,010 in 2007 to 1,734 today.

“The SNP’s extra investment and focus over the last decade has transformed apprenticeships - building bridges with industry, filling skills gaps and enhancing productivity, while giving our young people the skills they need to be at the forefront of our economy and our jobs market.

“We delivered on our manifesto target of reaching 25,000 Modern Apprenticeships each year back in 2011-12 and we have now raised that target to 30,000 per year by 2020.

“This Modern Apprenticeship Week I would encourage all businesses to think about how their business could benefit from taking on an apprentice.”