New program aims to get more P.E.I. high school grads to pursue post-secondary
A pilot project starting in February is aimed at encouraging more students on Prince Edward Island to pursue post-secondary education after they graduate from high school.
The Essential Skills Achievement Pathway will begin at Colonel Gray Senior High School and Montague Regional High School, with a goal of expanding it to all P.E.I. high schools for the 2023-24 school year.
"The reason for this program is to ensure we're keeping as many doors open for students as possible," said Ryan McAleer, youth transition manager for the province's Department of Education.
McAleer said only about 40 per cent of the Island's high school grads go right to college or university after they graduate — 25 per cent to university and 15 per cent to college.
"Some of our students, they don't really see a place for them in the P.E.I. job market," McAleer said.
A few more will eventually take post-secondary education after a couple years in the job market, but the majority will never seek further education, according to McAleer.
"We know our existing graduation pathway works very well for most of our students," he said. "But there's always a group of students that find problems with relevance and engagement."
Skills shortages
The issue is growing, since many industries on P.E.I. are in need of more workers—and the workers could lie in that exact student population.
"We're hearing from every industry we deal with that there are labour and skill shortages," said Sandy MacDonald, president of Holland College.
"So we need to have everyone we can possibly have in the labour market, fully engaged in the labour market."
The program itself is targeted at Grade 10 students who are struggling with what to do after high school. They'll begin spending their days exploring new careers and skills based on what interests them.
"And then in Grade 11 and 12, we really focus in on developing the skills required in that pathway," said McAleer.
"If a student has an interest in being a carpenter, then all the skills around numeracy and literacy, and problem solving, and innovation and critical thinking and creativity are all contextualized through the lens of carpentry."
A similar program was launched in New Brunswick high schools five years ago, and McAleer said it's been successful there.
He hopes the new program will lead to more young people staying in P.E.I. for work.
"Students are going to buy in, students are going to be engaged, and do their best to demonstrate their learning for things they're interested in doing," McAleer said.
"If we can tap into that at an early age and determine students are interested in certain career pathways, then it's really incumbent on us to provide as much learning opportunities as we can, so students are better prepared for those jobs."
