What We Heard - P.E.I.

6.2 Accessibility of Education and Training

Participants indicated that any discussion on education and the education system should not only apply to students but also to the broader population, and particularly to the unemployed and underemployed. Given the changing nature of the economy and of jobs, some stressed that continual learning was critical: credentialing, "certifying up", "re-skilling" are challenges faced by most workers at one point or another in their working life, whether this is to keep their current job or to get a new one.

Dialogue members therefore felt the education system should play a role in helping people "skill up" as required, whether they are workers recently laid-off or parents who have been out of the workforce for years because they were at home raising their children. However, participants reiterated that this responsibility for "skilling up" resides with multiple groups (employers, unions, various levels of governments, including HRSDC and its E.I. program).

Some Opportunities for Action...

Making education more accessible

Participants felt strongly that a portion of the E.I. surplus should be allocated to make training more accessible for all who need it, not only for the unemployed (e.g., for workers who want to re-skill). They also felt that these funds could be used to assist employers, especially smaller ones, who do not have the resources to offer workplace training to their employees.
They cited the need to explore alternative models of delivery, to be more creative in the way training is designed and delivered. They cited by way of example making educational materials available in the workplace coffee room.
Others felt that it should be easier for workers to temporally leave their jobs in order to improve their situation, for example the type of job security afforded to women who go on maternity leave and proposing an equivalent "training leave".

6.3 School to Work Transition

Participants felt that youth were making career choices without having access to the proper information and without understanding the requirements and implications of their decisions. They felt that this was at least partially the result of two factors:

Schools do not have properly trained and informed career counsellors (or if they do, counsellors must primarily focus on crisis intervention);
Teachers have an academic focus which, while important, this type of knowledge and skills are not necessarily easily transferred to the workplace.