Questionable Commitment to Trades Training

300 students currently registered in the Central Vancouver Island CTC (Career Technical Centre) program in Nanaimo have had the funding for their program pulled out from right under them. The CTC is a provincially recognized partnership between regional secondary schools and regional college campuses which allows high school students to start college certificate trade and technology programs tuition-free while completing their high school education. They receive both secondary and college credits for the same course (dual credit) and gain accelerated access to further training or entry into the work place with applied skills.

There are six CTC centres operating throughout BC. Most are structured to allow students in grades 11 and 12 to take courses at their local high schools while concurrently taking necessary college courses at a physically adjacent college in order to complete their CTC programs. The Central Vancouver Island model was structured differently in order to allow students from regional high schools across Vancouver Island (i.e. Chemainus, Port Alberni, and Nanaimo) that are not immediately adjacent to a college trades training facilities to take advantage and participate in the program. Students are required to take college pre-requisites, such as Math for trades, in grades 11 and 12, which are followed by a grade 13 component which is completed at a college. The reason this model was adopted in the Central Vancouver Island was that it enabled students in regional high schools not immediately adjacent to college trades training facilities to participate in this program. Because of the regionalization of this program, it has been tremendously successful in attracting many students in the Central Vancouver Island region into careers in applied programs and the trades, and effectively provided equity in access to education through out the Central Vancouver Island region. However, this model has been in dispute between the Ministry of Education and the district for quite some time, and the CTC office has re-tooled the program several times over the years to maximize the benefits for the students in this region.

During the last several years, funding for this program has undergone many changes, from tentative funding from the Ministry of Education, Industry Training Authority, and Ministry of Advanced Education. This past summer, a new Ministry of Education policy was implemented to recognize post-secondary transition programs, such as the CTC, for funding purposes. The rationale for this policy was to facilitate the offering of applied technology and trades courses, or programs which help prepare students for specific occupations at secondary schools. Therefore, through this policy, the Ministry of Education, for the first time, assured the funding of school districts transition programs through collaboration between school districts, post-secondary institutions, and industry associations. According to the policy students up to the age of 19 years (school aged students) within a school year (as of July 1st) can qualify for funding, and can have a grade 13 component which qualifies for funding. According to a Ministry official, the Ministry of Education was not prepared to fund the volume of students that a regional model such as the Central Vancouver Island CTC model; All other CTC programs in BC have far fewer students than the CTC program in the Central Vancouver Island region and most provide the program within grades 11-12. For this reason parents were told the funding of the current CTC program in the Central Vancouver Island was cut.

On January 26th, 2006 many students/parents learned about the funding cuts to the program through a district press release and sketchy article in the local newspaper. Approximately a week later, a letter was sent out to the parents of CTC students. These students/parents had actively planned over several years to enter into the CTC program, and literally had the program pulled right out from under them when it was announced this program had been axed. The timing of the announcement was just days before students wrote their first semester exams (later than normal due to the teacher's strike). It also occurred immediately after all district parents/students were rushed into filling out next year's course selection sheets, which was much earlier and with shorter notice than usual, and also without the benefit of their first semester grades and performance. The reason given to expedite this year’s course selection was the transitioning of the BC School District BCEsis student information system across the province and the need for the district to get course selections entered into the system early to qualify for district staff training on the system. Needless to say, this unfortunate and unrelated sequence of events was more trying for CTC students and parents who are caught part way through their CTC program. These various decisions from different Ministries may have seemed reasonable as separate considerations; however, at the district and student/parent’s level these decisions have added up to less than palatable outcomes.

It is somewhat hypocritical to require students to do post secondary planning (graduation portfolio core item 3.1 - "complete a graduation transition plan") when the program(s) they are planning around can be cut without adequate notice. Now, some students are really unsure of what they will be doing or able to do next fall and others are considering changing fields. Some students will have to work in order to live and others will defer going back to school until sometime in the future—students should not be forced to give up their plans due to last minute funding issues.

At the same time as the Nanaimo Ladysmith School District announced the termination of the Central Vancouver Island CTC program, the Ministry of Advanced Education Industry Training Authority (ITA) announced that $1.4 million dollars would be spent on funding "awareness" to recruit grade 6 to grade 9 students “into considering a career in the trades”. The irony of this announcement was not lost on the CTC parents who are watching their children “already in” trades career training - fully aware of trades and applied programs - lose their funding.

When something like this happens to students’ mid-stream, it is difficult to believe in the credibility of these new ITA programs like ACE-IT. The commitment to Trades training through the ITA “trade awareness” initiative is in question as many of these kids have younger siblings, friends, and neighbors who have heard what has happened with this situation. They are asking the same questions:

- Why is there no coordination or cooperation between Ministries and districts in phasing-out and phasing-in Trades training initiatives? Why are the students who are caught part-way through, not being grandfathered into the completion of their program?

- Why were CTC parents never consulted before and why were they notified in this way? The CTC parents/students are assuming all the responsibilities for decisions that did not involve them. Why were these problems not dealt with before students were in session, instead of during the program, and just prior to writing first semester high school provincial exams?

- What guarantees will be in place for future CTC and ITA students entering any transition program—will they be able to finish their training if funding is cut?

- Why are tax dollars not being spent on trades training instead of advertising for careers in the trades?

- Where are the industry training funding partners? And finally,

- Is our public education system, by defaulting without notice on an education contract with the students, now displaying the level of accountability of private education providers?

Many parents and students enrolled in the CTC program planned ahead before enrolling. Many have forgone other possible career and education avenues in order to commit to this program. Unlike provincial and municipal government policies that have a three year planning framework to make adjustments, students only have one shot at their last three years of high school—their future is now. These mix-ups have caused real harm to students’ motivation and career interests in the trades. The fact that some CTC students stopped attending classes the week after the announcement can attest to the impact it had on their morale. District officials had to round up the students for a pep talk.

So far, only the students who are already in the grade 13 components are being grandfathered through, and there are no clear solutions for the CTC students in grades 11 and grades 12. The School District, Malaspina University-College, and provincial Ministries of Education and Advanced Education, while actively working together on solutions have so far refused to accept full responsibility by grandfathering these students through.

The Nanaimo District PACs encourages concerned parents to voice their individual concerns directly to the Nanaimo District PAC, School District 68, the Ministries involved, the media, and the MLAs. And any parties who can to offer funding or post-secondary seat allocations to students who are caught in the middle of their CTC programs are urged to step forward.

Fact finding, lobbying for solutions, and the writing of this information has been a joint effort by District PACs from the Central Vancouver Island region who contributed their stories and letters.

This post was published to the Nanaimo Edutopia blog in its entirety.