The Global Apprenticeship Network (GAN) is a business-driven alliance that promotes work-based learning and apprenticeships across multiple sectors as a way to bridge the gap between the skills people have and the skills employers need.
GAN empowers people, businesses and communities to thrive in a world of transformation by delivering workplace education and training to align skills with the demands of the labour market.
GAN New Zealand:
- Strengthen companies’ and organisations’ engagement in apprenticeships.
- Shares best practices in the areas of apprenticeships, mentoring and on-the-job training
- Encourages effective knowledge sharing programmes and partnerships from GAN’s network of committed local and global companies and organisations.
Highlight of the Month
Dual System, Global Scale: SAP’s Apprenticeship Model
SAP, global leader in enterprise software and business AI, has been running structured vocational training programmes since 1979. What started with 230 students in Germany now spans 17 countries, from Brazil to India, Singapore to Switzerland, Australia to the United States, built deliberately on the principles of the German dual system.
Rather than treating workplace learning as a bolt-on to classroom theory, SAP combines practical work-based training at their state of the art facilities with theoretical instruction at partner vocational schools. Trainees are exposed to multiple teams and technologies before they choose their specialisation. The result is graduates with broader organisational literacy, stronger networks, and a head start that most new hires take years to develop.
And, the outcomes are hard to ignore:
- a 90%+ completion rate in Germany,
- around 80% conversion to full-time roles, and
- apprenticeship graduates who are 1.5 times more likely to be identified as high performers compared to the broader workforce.
SAP describes vocational training as “a strategic, long-term investment in people and future skills” and the evidence backs that up.
For VET researchers and practitioners, the SAP model is a timely reminder that the evidence base for high-quality vocational education is both deep and growing and that employers who invest seriously in it reap serious returns.
Become a GAN New Zealand Member
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Our focus areas:
Gender
Despite some recent encouraging trends, women are underrepresented in a number of trades areas. GAN New Zealand’s hosting organisation, Skills Group, has been part of a three-year research programme in New Zealand to understand the barriers to participation in traditionally male-dominated trades, and we believe the perception issues highlighted by the research can provide valuable insights to others, as well as continue to effectively advocate for much-needed change.
Equity and achievement
While there are persistent achievement gaps between Māori and non-Māori across New Zealand’s Education system, Tertiary Education Commission data shows these gaps are observed least in employer-led traineeships and apprenticeships. This finding is a testament to the effectiveness of work-based learning, standing alongside the substantial range of evidence we are able to offer the global network on what has worked to improve the participation and achievement of priority learner groups, and sustain these outcomes.
Employer capability
Achieving strong outcomes from work-based learning systems has as much to do with how we support the employer as it does with how we support the employee. We know that the drag on New Zealand’s productivity relates to management and supervisory capability, and as small enterprises dominate the New Zealand market, building employer capability can help businesses improve and grow while getting the most value out of their training investments.
Degree-level and advanced apprenticeships
While one-off pilots and good work has been achieved in some areas, policy and operational barriers remain. These hold back work-integrated pathways and apprenticeship models to achieve higher level qualifications, including degrees. As part of vocational sector reform and the qualifications framework, GAN New Zealand is keen to broker new connections between the higher education and vocational education sectors in New Zealand.