“Even if a would-be apprentice has their Dogwood, they still may not have the skills they need to enter an apprenticeship program.” – Industry Training and Apprenticeship Commission Representative during Consultation

“The School District is a problem in that it passes students with very low literacy levels.” – Government Representative during Consultation

• In a number of communities we heard reference to employers who hire only those with grade 12, the underlying assumption being an assurance that “basic skills” would not be an issue at that company if all employees were grade 12 graduates. At the same time, we heard educators and others in the same community lament the high numbers of grade 12 graduates who leave school with grade 9 level skills or less. Clearly, there is a disconnect in terms of expectations and understanding around the skills that grade 12 guarantees.

• A single employer can have a significant effect on a community – and change its views on literacy – by changing its hiring policy to a grade 12 minimum. Unfortunately, as we heard again and again, grade 12 is an artificial measure of literacy levels.

• Since so many mills and other employers have made grade 12 a hiring requirement, literacy is described as being less public or visible. It’s still as much of an issue as ever, just hidden.

• Many of the people we spoke with said that the school system is overly focused on covering curriculum rather than building actual skills. It also places too much emphasis on academic rather than non-academic outcomes (eg. self-esteem, etc.)

Gaps in Meeting Employment-Related Upgrading…

“Academic institutions don’t understand the experiential world of trades and business. They are often too rigid, formulated, and function in boxes.” – Industry Training and Apprenticeship Commission Representative during the Consultation

• A number of the people we interviewed during the consultation from the former Ministry of Social Development and Economic Security (now the Ministry of Human Resources) and with the Industry Training and Apprenticeship Commission expressed frustration at the limited options available for their clients to upgrade their skills in a way that meets their needs for employment or entry into apprenticeship. School District and College programming may be daunting for many of these people. In some cases, even when attending an education institution isn’t daunting – the waitlists are. While volunteer adult tutoring programs are available in some communities, they are not adequately resourced to be more than a parttime and long-term commitment for clients. In some cases, the timelines involved are simply too lengthy.

School and Apprenticeship…

“There is not enough attention given to trades/apprenticeships for students in high school. Apprentices are the key to getting people where they should be.” – Union Representative in the Supplemental Business/Labour Telephone Survey