Educations and Skills Training Ministers Tour Trades Training
l-r Minister Fassbender, CNC's Randall Heidt, MLA Mike Morris, Minister Shirley Bond and 17 year old student Geneva Unruh, talk about the saddle rack Geneva created in the carpentry shop. – photo 250News
Prince George, B.C. – Linking education with the need for skilled labour will take some extra effort.
B.C.’s Minister of Education, Peter Fassbender was visiting Prince George today, to learn more about some of the special programs that are promoting the “Trades”.
“I am especially interested in a program that has students introduced to trades in grade 7” says Fassbender, who adds it is just one of the many valuable programs being offered to students in School District 57.
As the need for skilled trades people increases because of increased development and a retiring baby boom generation, Minister of Labour Tourism and Skills Development Shirley Bond says there will have to be a mind “shift” in the attitude towards trades. She says parents need to know that working in trades is different now, that many trades require a high level of computer knowledge and of course there are the very attractive salaries. “I think of mining and Mount Milligan” says Bond, “The average salary there is $100 thousand dollars, so these are well paying high in demand jobs.”
This afternoon, the Ministers toured the John Brink Trades Centre, where some high school students are enrolled in the CTC ( Career Technical Centre) program. This is a special partnership between the College of New Caledonia and School District 57. It allows high school students to have a unique opportunity during Grades 11 and 12. Students can take two semesters at CNC and two at high school, graduating with both their Grade 12 and their first year of technical training.
“We need graduates of programs like this, to share their positive experience with their peers” says Minister Bond. She says thee is also a need to hear from industry about the kind of workers they will need in the not too distant future, and to step up to the plate to ensure there is an opportunity for apprenticeships. “Imagine a project that takes about four years to build out, that means a person could start an apprenticeship when the project first starts, and when it’s complete will have completed that phase and be a journey tradesperson.”
Comments
Wow, I haven’t seen so many politicians smiling and laughing all at on time before. They must be laughing at that “joke” of an Industry Training Authority responsible for trades training in our province.
“Since its inception in 2004 however, the agency has faced criticism for being disorganized and out of touch. The complaints have come from every quarter: from unions, industry, politicians, and even the province’s Auditor-General.”
“The unhappy evidence is in the statistics: B.C.’s apprenticeship completion rate has hovered around 40 per cent for years, while the national average is 50 per cent, and Alberta’s rate sits at 78 per cent.”
http://thetyee.ca/News/2012/07/02/JobTrainersInTrouble/
Screw it, lets just expand the TFWP. That’s what business in Canada really wants.
Lol look at that exstention cord plugged into itself. I hope they teach them how to use that cord properly. Maybe they told them to store it that way so the electrons don’t leak out. ;)
Don’t worry People #1, the ITA has a new plan.
” …. parents need to know that working in trades is different now, that many trades require a high level of computer knowledge and of course there are the very attractive salaries.”
Hmmmm …. tell that to the well-trained tradesmen who came from Western Europe in the early 1950’s to work on projects such as Kitimat … and to those who were trying to preach that message when those trades people came from eastern Canada in the 1960s and 1970s ….
Trades training in Canada gets very little respect ….. and I would not be surprised if it will not continue to be that way and get even worse as “the basics” of a trade will more and more become a perishable skill which will start to decay more rapidly as the decades go by.
The CTC program is great. I don’t care which politician is in the picture. The schools need more programs like this. Why waste our education dollars on basket weaving courses when the kids can take courses that will pay off and launch them into a career? And why should employers go to Ireland to hire workers when we can train them here?
Great job CTC!
I guess they haven’t heard of the Kreg Jig yet? I like to use it when I make cabinets to hide the screws and makes a much smoother look to the finished product.
http://www.homedepot.ca/product/kreg-jig-mini-kit/814484?gclid=CL3864Wk-roCFQhlfgodnEwA4w&ef_id=UoFUjwAAATBYOXYd:20131123062928:s
The jig is nice if you can hide the screw holes in some fashion. I think it is still “rough” carpentry and does not speak of fine cabinet making.
I am looking at a bit more craftsmanship put into a piece of furniture such as pictured in this saddle stand.
I remember woodworking in grade 7 in Ontario. It was an all-day class on Fridays and, after learning shop safety and how to use standard tools, we worked on building a small piece of furniture. Mine was a coffee table. No plywood. Proper furniture quality furniture quality Maple edge planed and laminated together with old fashioned, heated glue that smelled to high heaven. :-)
Grade 8 was metalwork every Friday.
Do such classes still happen in school at that grade level here?
http://www.lmakin.com/saddle/trophy1.jpg
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