(~@ Capilano
Ce College

Informer
Skills Now!

Matching Education to Job Market

The B.C. government’s ambitious
new Skills Now program is aimed at
improving the fit between education and
employability.

Garry Wouters, Deputy Minister of
Skills and Training, visited Capilano
College recently to outline the highlights
of the provincial government’s new $200
million, two-year initiative.

It is a wide-reaching program, the
purpose of which is to bridge the gap
between skills needed in the labour
market and those available in the work
force. It encompasses high schools, post-
secondary institutions, community and
government agencies.

One of the first concerns of the Skills
Now program is to increase access to
post-secondary education. According to
Wouters, there were 20,000 people
turned away from college and university
doors last year. The government has
increased spaces by 8,100 to begin with,
and it challenges post-secondary institu-
tions to come up with innovative ways to
bring a greater number and diversity of
people into the system.

Improving access, says Wouters, also
means opening doors to those who may
not have come through them in the past:
the unemployed, those on welfare,
displaced workers, First Nations and
multicultural communities, and single
parents.

The government is also looking for
initiatives that would increase program
and curriculum relevance. In other
words, students would graduate with

Coming Events

May 31

Spring Graduation for academic and
career and vocational programs. 7:30
p.m. Sportsplex. Reserved seats are
available for College employees. Call
Jean Classen at loc. 2011.

Garry Wouters, Deputy Minister

skills that would be immediately applica-
ble in the work place.

The impact on Capilano College is
potentially revolutionary. Bill Gibson,
Dean, Academic Studies, and John Potts,
Dean, Career/Vocational Division, agree
the program’s intent to improve the
relevance of education will mean a
blurring of boundaries between academic
and career programs. “I think Academic
and Career/Vocational will evolve in the
same direction,” says Bill. “Artificial
barriers will be eliminated.

“Basically, we’re talking about re-
packaging education. Now, many
students are doing four years of univer-
sity, then two years of a career program.
If you’re talking about access, that cuts a
lot of people out. Six years of education
is expensive.”

Under the program, the government
has given degree granting status to six
institutions, and according to Wouters,
Capilano College will not be far behind.

June 3-5

The Association of Women in Post-
Secondary Education is holding their
annual general meeting and conference
on Bowen Island. The theme of the
conference, “Transforming Self and
Systems” focuses on the continuing need
to strive for positive change. To register,
call Stephanie Forsyth at loc. 2994.

“Mr. Wouters said unless there are major
changes in the next year, there’s a very
good possibility that Capilano will be
offering niche degrees, particularly in
applied programs, and applied is the
word,” says John. He sees the College
becoming more involved in basic skills
development, “broadening access for
people at the lower rungs of the educa-
tional ladder, and giving more weight in
career offerings than we are now.”

At the moment the Career/Vocational
Division is preparing a list of initiatives
to consider while the government
develops criteria for funding applications
under Skills Now. They have already
submitted two proposals; one is for a
general office assistant/ESL program,
designed to assist people whose first
language is not English to prepare for
entry-level clerical positions. The other
is a program in multicultural retail
marketing designed to assist ESL
learners to become retail employees.

please see page 4

The Informer is produced
monthly by the Capilano College
Public Relations Department.
Your submissions are welcome,
but please be aware that space
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The Informer

Public Relations,

Capilano College

2055 Purcell Way,

North Vancouver, B.C. V7J 3H5
Tel: 986-1911, loc. 2088

Fax: 984-1714

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1968~1993