The Government's new Young Apprenticeships scheme will allow 14- to 16-year-olds to leave school for up to two days a week to learn skills on the job.

About 1,000 young people will be offered scheme places in the first year. Will this help to address the mismatch between education and industry? Stefan Stern reports

Stephen Gardner, director of work-based learning, Learning and Skills Council

'We are aiming for breadth and depth with the new young apprenticeships. There is a fair amount of evidence that if young people can see the relevance of what they are doing, they are happy to commit to it. It meets that need for "employability". They can think longer term about their career, and they are interested in acquiring skills that will help them into employment later on.

'This must not be seen as a second-class route to a career. It could be combined with A levels or their equivalent. A young person might just want to do two days a week in the workplace, rather like the old sandwich courses. The problem with "work experience" is that, if it's just a day a week for a short period of time, there's only so much you can learn. The new apprenticeships will formalise what is already happening in the best examples.

'As the school-leaving age rises, people's first experience of work may have a greater impact. Employers know how hard it is to build a motivated workforce, so it will be important that young apprentices become very much part of the business, and are not just "dropping in".'

Sally Hopson, HR director, Asda

'In the youth recruitment market we have noticed that retailing is an increasingly attractive option. Young people like the pace of the job and the career prospects.

'We have been awarded a 500,000 government grant from the Learning and Skills Council to take 1,000 Asda colleagues through a pilot apprenticeship programme that we may roll out nationally. It will be quite an intensive programme - training will be completed within a year, making it short compared with many apprenticeships. What young people like about apprenticeships is the fact that the on-the-job learning turns into a qualification, which is fully transferable and independent of Asda. We see the new apprenticeships as both a recruitment and a retention tool. Those aged between 16 and 24 will be able to study for a level-two qualification as part of a foundation modern apprenticeship in eight stores in north London. Retailers pulled away from NVQs 10 years ago because the qualifications didn't seem to meet their needs. We created our own Asda Academy for that reason. But this new initiative could meet our business needs much more effectively.'

Roger Opie, director, HTI Trust (heads, teachers and industry)

'The Government target of getting 50% of young people into higher education is over-ambitious. It takes people away from the apprenticeships they should have been doing.

'Some employers tell us that they would rather recruit at 18. Many younger people just aren't ready for work at 16. They lack key "employability" skills and are not "job-ready". An extra two years in preparation would be the right way to go. After the Tomlinson report (the inquiry into A level standards), we may start to break down some of the academic/vocational divide. A problem has been a lack of respect for the level two/three qualifications. But 20 years ago getting an apprenticeship was like winning a prize or a scholarship. That's what some young people could be aiming for.'