• The central objective of Youth Apprenticeship can be characterized as twofold:

    1. To prepare every student for a high-skill occupation.

    2. To provide Georgia with a pool of highly trained, technologically sophisticated young workers.

    Under Georgia Code Section 20-2-161.2, the Georgia Department of Education was authorized to establish Youth Apprenticeship programs with the stated goal of implementing comprehensive programs in all school systems by fiscal year 1996. Working in conjunction with the Department of Labor and the Department of technical and Adult Education, the Department of Education has developed standards and procedures necessary to implement the programs. Essential components of Georgia’s Youth Apprenticeship program are:

    (a) A partnership structure encompassing schools, postsecondary institutions, employers, labor organizations, and community representatives;

    (b) The resulting award of a portable, industry-recognized skill certificate for participating students;

    (c) Integration of work-based and school-based learning