Post !t-condary_ education

Where do I go after high school?

By ROSE TATLOW
Seven speakers, ranging from
educators in the local school
system and college___ to provincial
institutes and the government,
gave an outline of the oppor-:.
tunities available if young people
don't want to go to a university
but prefer to go into the trades or
to take a vocational. programme.
Tom Good, district superinten­
dent of schools, spoke on the pro­
grammes offered at Howe Sound
Secondary; Dr. Greg Lee, dean of
careers in the vocational sector at
Capilano College, outlined the
college cours� _Bob Chisholm,
head of the forestry dep_m-tment at

the B.C. Institute of Technology, secondary training and appren­
spoke on the institute's program­ ticeship training.
mes; Frank Raeder, of the Pacific
Sparked by reports that there
Vocational Institute, spoke on would be a serious lack of skilled
need for training; arid Mike Hard­ · tradesmen and journeymen in
man, from· the Department of Canada by the end of the 1980s,
Labour, spoke on its role in ap­ the Chamber of Commerce
prenticeship training; Betsy Mac­ assembled the panel of experts to
Donald of the Apprenticeship conduct the seminar in post secon­
Board talked of their work; and dary education and training.
Alex Dale of the Ministry of
CAREER PROGRAMMES
Edu cation represented that
Tom Good, district superinten­
department.
The parents, students and dent of schools for Howe Sound
others who attended, a small School District No. 48, outlined
crowd considering the importance the career programmes already
of the subject, discovered a great available in the school district.
deal about the field of post- These are automotive, food ser­
vice, commercial and house con­
struction, available to students in
grades eleven and 12.
"Preparing for job courses are
fairly new," Good said, "and
they are expanding. We have tried
pre-apprenticeship programmes
before but one of the problems is
maintaining continuity."
Pemberton offers courses in
hospitality and tourism and this is
because of the proximity to the
Whistler area :. Good said that in
Howe Sound 65 percent of the
students are on the academic pro­
gram with 35 percent on other
programmes.
"Some people think the schools
should be providing students with
job skills," Good said, "but we
feel that the public school system
has a duty to offer a general
education to the students, not to

Tom Good
District Superintendent of
Schools, Howe Sound School
District

SPECIAL COURSES
"We realize that we probably
would not be able to offer a con­
struction course each year but if
we had a number of them perhaps
they could be offered once every
. three or four years when there
was a need for them.
.

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prepare them for jobs for in­
dustry."
Capilano College offers many
programmes. Originally most of
the students were preparing for
university but now the majority
are taking some form of voca­
tional training.
"Some courses take one or two
years," said Greg · Lee, dean of
·vocational studies. "Others are
very short. We prepare students
for jobs." He pointed out the
considerable overlapping between
·programmes.
AT CAPILANO COLLEGE
The vocational shop facility at
the Lynnmour campus is expected
to be opened this fall with
·welding, drafting and building
construction, and it is hoped this
can be expanded to the satellite
areas such as Squamish and
Sechelt. Funding has been obtain­
ed for facilities and staff and it
will be available for students on a
full-time basis.
Lee explained the funding
comes from the Department of
Ed u c a t i o n
with
pre­
apprenticeship training controlled
by the Department of Labour.
The Department of Education will
institute the short term program­
mes. Cost of outfitting the shop
will amount to between $100,000
and $200,000.
"Proposals for courses must be
submitted a year and a half in ad­
vance," Lee told the gathering,
"and we can't get a commitment
to ongoing funding, just for tem­
porary funding."
One problem is the ability of
students to attend full time or 30
·hours a week. Some can't do this
because of financial reasons. "If
we don't get enough students, we
can't have the programmes."
Lee said they hoped to establish
the new facility in Squamish with
different types of workshops. The
college would like to offer a varie­
ty of programmes on a rotating
basis.

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Dr. Greg Lee
Capilano College
"Funding is available for two­
year programmes,'' Lee said,
"and we hope to be able to offer.
some parts of the certificate pro­
gramme. We would like to serve
the community but we do have a
funding problem."
Frank Raeder of ·the Pacific
Vocational Institute, director for
policy, planning and public rela­
tions, spoke of the institute's three
campuses at Burnaby, Sea Island
and Maple Ridge.
They offer 130 courses and have
19,000 students registered. There
are three main streams, regular
full time programmes, continuing
education and industrain, the lat­
ter on the job with employees and
employers.
"By 1985, of every ten people
working in Canada, six will be
women," Raeder said. "Between
1980 and 1990 a total of 650,000
people will have to be imported to
keep industry going."
He spoke of the imbalance of
funds spent on training and
education with 20 percent of the
population of B.C. attending
universities and enjoying the
benefits of $460 million while the
other 80 percent enjoy $50
million.
He deplored the lack of a man­
power training system in Canada
and stressed the need for a
change.
Continued. on page 2
See "Where do I go"