Budget Bulletin: Closing the Skills Gap

Closing the Skills Gap

• $4.2-million increase for NSCC.
• Virtual Campus expands.
• $200,000 Youth Pathways and Transitions program.
• $1.5 million for Nova Scotia School for Adult Learning.
• $5 million more for universities.
• $15 million for research.

Today, there are more jobs than qualified people to fill them, yet our unemployment rate is 9.1 per cent.

Many of these jobs require technical, skills-oriented training. Yet, although Nova Scotians are among the most highly educated in the country, of those who go on to post-secondary education, just 20 per cent go to community college while 80 per cent choose university. The national average of Canadians choosing community college is 43 per cent. As a result, we need more people with skills to fill new jobs in industries like high tech, construction and the offshore.

Making sure Nova Scotians are prepared to harness opportunities and jobs in the new economy is what closing the skills gap is all about. The 2001-02 budget includes a number of measures to support training, higher education and lifelong learning and to strengthen Nova Scotia’s research capabilities.

Operating grants to the Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) will increase by $4.2 million, to help create up to 200 more seats, expand program options and develop student skills to meet labour market demands.

Studies have long shown the positive relationship between education, employment, and income. NSCC will expand its Virtual Campus to make opportunities available outside of traditional classroom learning. More than 800 Nova Scotians enrolled in NSCC’s Virtual Campus receive the programs and training they need to upgrade their skills without having to leave home or work.

Preparing career-focused high school students with basic employability skills and raising awareness about opportunities in their local communities and at community college is the focus of the new $200,000 Youth Pathways and Transition initiative. Beginning in middle school, Nova Scotia youth will use individual career portfolios to track the basic skills needed for employment. Nova Scotia will be one of the first provinces to use the Employability Skills 2000+ list developed through the Conference Board of Canada. This means that, for the first time, career preparation will be linked to the skills needed for success identified by educational and business leaders. The program also provides students with the option of connecting their high school courses to specific programs at the Nova Scotia Community College and gaining recognition for credit in specific college programs.

As part of the government’s focus on providing adult Nova Scotians with access to a high school education, $1.5 million is directed to the new Nova Scotia School for Adult Learning. The school was announced in late 2000 as part of the government’s Adult Learning Initiative, which included the creation of a Nova Scotia High School Diploma for Adults.

Scheduled to open in September, the school will coordinate the delivery of adult education programs from basic literacy to high school completion and grant the Nova Scotia High School Diploma for Adults. The funding will be used to cover course tuition at various partnering agencies across the province (i.e., NSCC, Collège de l’Acadie), school boards and program administration.

Nova Scotia''s universities will receive additional funding again this year, the fourth consecutive increase, recognizing the important role universities play in Nova Scotia’s knowledge economy, research and innovation. Total operating funds will increase from $196 million to $201 million, or a total of $5 million.

Innovation is the source of economic growth -- creating and commercializing ideas -- and Nova Scotia’s research interests have been significantly under-funded for too long. A total of $15 million will be made available to universities, colleges, and research institutes to support research, knowledge, and innovation. Government is allocating $15 million from the 2000-01 budget to lever funding through the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and other partners. This could dramatically increase research and development in Nova Scotia by as much as 40 per cent.

NOTE: For other 2001-02 budget information, visit the Department of Finance website at www.gov.ns.ca/finance .