The lack of students taking up apprenticeships is worrying says the principal of Don Bosco Technical College Fonomaaitu Mane Su'a.

He said the technical school had been approached by businesses to find students as they were offering apprenticeship positions.

Fonomaaitu elaborated that this is why they are pushing the students to study in eight different trade courses at Don Bosco to get apprenticeships which would further enhance their skills and make it easier for them to get employment.

"We were told that some workplaces had to train some students who haven't reached university levels in areas of electrical, plumbing and other trades because of the lack of people applying for these kinds of jobs,” he said.

Fonomaaitu said this was an indicator of the lack of skilled personnel in the labour market. He said this was often a concern that had been raised by the business community.

He said the school did its best to train students but there was a need for a pathway from the school to businesses where apprenticeship could become an automatic placing.

Fonomaaitu said the certificates Don Bosco offered students after completing three years of studies at the school were recognised overseas.

He said most of the ex-students were now working overseas using these certificates, especially the ones who went for the Regional Seasonal Scheme.

"Most of them went to work for the RSE and have now found stable jobs in apprenticeship areas because of the qualifications they had from school," Fonomaaitu said.

He added that it's a concern that there is still a need for more students to graduate from technical schools to work in the many areas of apprenticeship.

The shortage of skilled labour continues to be a major challenge for Samoa.

Both Government agencies and development partners are aware of the growing crisis, says a report, which was recently published by the Public Service Commission.

According to the report titled report “End of Term and Post Implementation Report - Public Administration Sector Plan 2013/14-2017/18”, the problem should be managed in order to build institutional knowledge in Samoa.

“Skilled employee mobility (engineers, etc..) within Government and from Government to the private sector is now a trend, although there is no actual supporting data.

“While this may be valuable in some cases, it needs to be managed to ensure the skills, knowledge and behaviours are transferred within the losing government agency to build institutional knowledge,” stated the report.