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| Backgrounder(s) & FactSheet(s): | Factsheet |
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| Backgrounder(s) & FactSheet(s): | Factsheet |
VICTORIA – At a special ceremony in Victoria today, Education Minister Shirley Bond and Advanced Education Minister Murray Coell honoured B.C.’s top trades students for their achievements at the Canada Skills Competition.
“The students we are recognizing today are just a few of the thousands of talented students in trades programs throughout the province,” said Bond. “We are continuing to support students who opt to study trades by investing in trades and technology training and providing more choices for students.”
Twenty-nine B.C. secondary and post-secondary students won a total of 21 medals: five gold, eight silver and eight bronze. The medals were for excellence in 3-D character animation, aircraft maintenance, hairdressing, Internet website design and TV/video production. One student, Joel Kitching from Earl Marriott secondary in Surrey, has already qualified for the WorldSkills Competition in Japan in 2007.
“We know that more jobs are going to require trades and technical training in the future. And we want to get the word out to young British Columbians that there are opportunities for them to get industry-recognized training through our post-secondary programs across the province that will lead to high-paying jobs in the trades,” said Coell. “We congratulate you for capitalizing on those opportunities and keeping our economy moving and growing.”
Today’s ceremony was an opportunity for the students to display their winning projects, including a demonstration by the bronze medallists in the robotics category. The team had to fight through adversity, suffering a major breakdown of one of the robot’s motors on the first day. But the students quickly diagnosed the problem and rebuilt the robot with the materials at hand and without the aid of a machine shop – and still finished in third place.
“It is fantastic that B.C. students can receive this level of
recognition for their hard work and achievements,” said Rob Chioccarello,
executive director of Skills Canada. “These students understand there is great
value in trades training and they are already making their mark in their chosen
industries.”
The 12th Canadian Skills Competition hosted almost 500 students from across the country May 23 to 26 in Halifax. Sixty-three per cent of B.C.’s 46-member team brought home medals. The team placed third nationally, behind Quebec and Ontario.
Students advanced to the national competition after winning regional and provincial Skills Canada competitions. Every two years, eligible winners from the national contest move on to the World Skills Competition. Canada will host the global contest in Calgary Sept. 8 to 11, 2009.
This year, more than 2,000 students
in 32 school districts participated in an ACE IT technical training program.
ACE IT offers students the chance to gain level one industry certification,
which qualifies them to work as apprentices. Students get help transitioning from the classroom to the worksite while
earning their high school diploma and learning specific trade skills. In addition, there are currently
over 1,000 active apprentices aged 15 and older in the Secondary School
Apprenticeship Program in B.C. schools.
The Province is committed to providing trades and technology training and opportunities to help achieve its goals of becoming the best-educated, most literate jurisdiction in Canada and creating more jobs per capita in B.C. than anywhere else in Canada. This year’s budget provides an additional $400 million to increase training and skills development.
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contact: |
Public Affairs Bureau Ministry of Education 250 356-5963 |
Public Affairs Bureau Ministry of Advanced Education 250 387-0910 |
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For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca. |
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