By Sweena Rai
Atten-SHUN! The Ontario government is recruiting students who want to be put in the forces — the workforce that is.
Part of the Ministry of Education’s restructuring of the high school curriculum is aimed at the 50 per cent of students who find themselves looking for work directly after graduation.
The new high school curriculum will address this issue by expanding workplace programs such as co-operative education, school-to-work programs and apprenticeships.
Barbara Simmons, co-ordinator of the ministry’s apprenticeship reform project, says she’s more concerned that most students aren’t aware of the demand for workers in the trade sector.
“Employers are flying to other countries to recruit apprentices, and bringing them back here and training them,” says Simmons.
“It’s quite scary because they’re good jobs. They’re challenging, interesting jobs. They’re there for the taking and we feel students are missing them because they just don’t know about them.”
Simmons admits encouraging students to go into the trades may limit their options.
That said, there’s still a shortage of apprentices working in industrial manufacturing, construction and the service sector.
These are jobs in which apprentices can earn up to $80,000 a year, says Simmons.
According to Simmons, there are two streams of employers in the workforce: those who will hire co-op students fresh out of high school and those who have the capacity to train someone with work-related experience.
Zachary Watson, general service manager at Belisle Automotive, says he rarely hires a student who doesn’t have experience or who hasn’t taken college-level courses.
“I’m finding in order to get the skills you need these days to be an effective technician, we’re looking for students who graduate from a college program and who have math, computer and communication skills.”
Simmons says the ministry’s aim is to make sure that changes to the apprenticeship program get into the high school curriculum as it’s being restructured.
Some of the reforms include making the curriculum more theoretical-based and increasing the age requirement to become an apprentice, which is currently 16-years-old.
The ministry says changes to the curriculum will also mean developing courses with input from the business sector to ensure Ontario students will acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to be successful in the changing workforce.
A provincial partnership council will also be established to help increase work programs and business-sector participation. The council will include representatives from government, education, business and the volunteer sector.
Simmons says the ministry is not trying to stream students into the workforce, but is trying to educate students about their future options.
Grant Clarke, the ministry’s high school senior policy adviser, says there’s also no guarantee students will get a better job if they have a university degree.
“University is not always better. Getting a toehold in skilled work, and learning and training on the job site can also be very satisfying,” says Clarke.
Yet most students, and some educators, are sticking with the mentality that more is better.
“I want a higher education,” says Norman Mizobuchi, a Grade 11 student at Lisgar collegiate institute. “Even if the money was there I wouldn’t go into the workforce straight away. I just never thought about it.”
Toma Feizo-Gas, an OAC student at Glebe collegiate, says his co-op placement has helped him decide to pursue a career in animation, but that he also needs to go to college first.
Feizo-Gas has been spending his mornings in Artech Digital Entertainments’ animation department since September.
“I want to draw, and all the stuff I do at Artech is computer- related stuff. So I figure I have to head off to college to be able to (draw). I can’t go straight into the workforce because my skill level isn’t good enough.”
Peter Everett, principal at Glebe collegiate, says it’s a good idea to expand workplace programs because it helps students prepare for university which is the school’s primary mandate.
“I’ve seen kids at the (Central) Experimental Farm doing research in labs and they are dying to finish high school so they can get into the university milieu to do biology or chemistry,” says Everett.