The First Minister will today announce additional support to help rural and island companies to employ Modern Apprentices.
Nicola Sturgeon will confirm eligible areas during a visit to Stornoway.
She is visiting I A & C Maciver contractors, who employ two apprentices, on the first day of Scottish Apprenticeship Week which focuses on the benefits apprenticeships bring to businesses, individuals and the Scottish economy.
The First Minister said: “Rural communities are vital to Scotland’s economy so it is important they get the support to recruit and retain employees, including Modern Apprentices.
“We recognise employers and trainers can incur additional costs when delivering Modern Apprenticeships in more remote areas. That is why we have introduced the rural supplement – to ensure young people in some of the more remote parts of Scotland are not disadvantaged when it comes to accessing apprenticeships.
“Modern Apprenticeships provide excellent opportunities for young people to enter the world of work and they are central to our ambition to develop a world class vocational education system that matches our world class, and free, system of higher education.”
“We are on schedule to meet the challenging target of 26,000 new starts this year as we work towards our commitment of at least 30,000 new Modern Apprenticeship starts per year by 2020.”
Additional support for island companies to employ apprentices
6 March 2017