R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-45-1: Purposes.

The purposes of this chapter are:

(1) To encourage employers, associations of employers, and organizations of employees to voluntarily establish apprenticeship programs and the making of apprenticeship agreements;

(2) To create opportunities for people to obtain employment and adequate training in trades and industry with parallel instructions in related and supplementary education under conditions that will equip them for profitable employment and citizenship;

(3) To cooperate with the promotion and development of apprenticeship programs and systems in other states and with the federal committee on apprenticeship appointed under 29 U.S.C. § 50 et seq.; and

(4) To provide for the registration and approval of apprenticeship programs and apprenticeship agreements and for the issuance of state certificates of completion of apprenticeship.