An extra £500,000 has been pledged to help attract a greater number of women and people from minority groups on to modern apprenticeship schemes.

The funding, made available by the Scottish Government, will be used by Skills Development Scotland (SDS) to promote equality within the flagship youth employment programmes.

It is also hoped the money, which was announced during a debate at the Scottish Parliament, will be used to encourage care leavers and disabled people to sign up for the apprenticeships.

The announcement comes ahead of next week’s Scottish Apprenticeship Week, which aims to showcase the benefits of on-the-job training schemes.

It was welcomed by politicians of all stripes, though some MSPs raised concerns.

Labour MSP Siobhan McMahon highlighted figures from 2012-13 showing that 98 per cent of construction apprentices were male, while 97 per cent of childcare apprentices were female.

She said that SDS should not be the only organisation tasked with encouraging wider participation in modern apprenticeships

She said: “Yes, it should be incumbent on them to encourage young women to seek out alternative careers but really this seems to be out with that organisation’s abilities and remit.

“If we are serious about breaking through glass ceilings, this is a problem which has to be tackled at a much earlier stage.

Skills secretary Roseanna Cunningham told MSPs that progress had been made on occupational segregation within the modern apprenticeship programme.

She said: “We need to widen young people’s perceptions from an early stage to ensure that they make more informed choices.

“SDS is already working with leading gender equality organisations and local authorities to challenge and tackle gender segregation.”