Ontario Government Helping More Students
Enter Skilled Trades
The Ontario government is helping record
numbers of high school students start their formal skilled trades training
while still in high school, said Chris Bentley, Minister of Training, Colleges
and Universities.
“The (Ontario) government is on the side of
Ontario families who want their sons and daughters to find opportunity,”
Bentley said during a visit to Waterdown District High School. “That’s why
we’re helping high school students who want a career in the skilled trades get
started on their apprenticeships.”
Offered through Ontario’s secondary school
system, the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP) provides cooperative
education and workplace-based experiences in the skilled trades to high school
students.
A record 24,000 students are expected to
take part in the program in 2006/2007. This is almost double the 12,700
participants in 2002/2003. More than 19,000 employers participated last year.
The announced was made at Waterdown District
High School in the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board where funding of
$148,751 will support approximately 950 students and 550 employers in
2006/2007.
“It’s clear from research that a
one-size-fits all approach to education results in some students being left
behind,” said Ted McMeekin, MPP for Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Aldershot.
“OYAP is providing an excellent link in helping students consider and make
successful career choices. Thanks to our community partners, our young people
have more opportunities and choice, and that has to be good for all of us.”
As more students go into this program, the
government is getting closer to meeting its commitment to raise the number of
annual apprenticeship registrations to 26,000 annually in 2007/2008.
“Investing in apprenticeship benefits
everyone,” Bentley said. “Through the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program,
we’re working to make sure Ontario’s apprenticeship system provides Ontario
with the skilled workforce needed to compete in today’s economy.”
The OYAP is a school-to-work program
offered through Ontario high schools. Full-time students in grades 11 and 12
earn cooperative education credits through work placements in skilled trades.
Students have the option to formally register as apprentices while still in
high school, allowing them to graduate with their Ontario Secondary School
Diploma and a portion of their apprenticeship already completed.
The program also enhances opportunities for
guidance and career education, improves linkages between school and the
workplace, and raises the profile of apprenticeship training and skilled trades
as a career choice in Ontario. Health and safety is a key component of trades
training.
With participation rates growing every
year, the apprenticeship program is helping the government meet two key
commitments:
- Achieve an 85 per cent
graduation rate by 2010/20111 – significant increase over the 68 per cent who
graduated in 2003/2004;
- Increase the number of
apprenticeship registrations to 26,000 annually by 2007/2008.
