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From the Chamber: Schools and Society Fail the Student |
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 It is important to realize that in our schools today we have many students who will succeed regardless of what we do to them. They come from strong family upbringing, a demanding home life, an active lifestyle and a desire to do well.
And they will.
If we ask the question, “Are we preparing our students today for the rapidly changing world of the future and the world of work?” The short answer is no.
We are not focused on preparing our students for what is to come next. We are not focused on preparing our students and teaching them to be responsible citizens. We are not discussing acceptable attitudes and preparing our youth to have reasonable expectations. We are reactive rather than proactive.
Is this the fault of our educators only? Is it their responsibility to act alone? Absolutely not! This is the responsibility of our community, we all bear the load, and the results, of failing our children.
The Business Council of British Columbia, in a report titled “15 by 15: A Comprehensive Policy Framework for Early Human Capital Investment in B.C.”, says that “today, only 71 per cent of B.C. children arrive at kindergarten meeting all of the developmental benchmarks they need to thrive both now and in the future.” That means that 29 per cent are developmentally vulnerable. It is expected that the percentage in the Yukon will be higher.
The report goes on to say that this is a “middle-class problem”. The report also claims that in the next 60 years this will equate to a loss in economic value of over $400 billion dollars in a brain drain and human capital. The recommendation in B.C. is to reduce the early vulnerability levels to 15 per cent by 2015.
This early vulnerability has an impact on the development of our young people “… that will limit their lifelong wellbeing and productivity,” the report says.
Yukon businesses have seen the results of this for years: Youth who work with expectations and attitudes not conducive to the workplace; and youth who do not have a skill-set that has prepared them for the world of work, and the lack of accepting responsibility for one’s actions.
We see this in business when hiring youth to work part-time, or those who have graduated and are seeking full-time employment.
Having been in business in the Yukon for more than 25 years, and having had many discussions with employers, I can say that this issue has caused frustration and anxiety and lost productivity over the years that is incalculable.
I recall one example of a fine young gentleman being promoted and having to complete a written report and evaluation on those he supervised. When the report came in, I was shocked at the inability of this person to communicate using the English language. And he was getting in the high 80-per-cent range in his English class.
This example is not unique to the written word as there are many examples of young people not able to complete basic arithmetic, problem solve, and to leave their problems at the door.
The Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with the Canada Revenue Agency, has been in discussions with the Department of Education to introduce a curriculum created by the Canada Revenue Agency called “Responsible Citizenship”.
With the help of stakeholders and the community in general, this curriculum could start to teach our youth some of the personal skills required to succeed later in school, in the workplace and in life.
We have to start somewhere, we have to work to reduce the early vulnerability levels, whatever they may be in Yukon, and as an educator has said to me, “… raising our youth is a community issue, not just that of educators …”.
With this in mind, we must look to the future and work as a community to prepare our young people so they can face the challenges of life head on, and we cannot delay one more minute.
Rick Karp is the president of the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce. This column discusses its services and the issues it is dealing with.
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Home Work