Central Alberta school divisions and post-secondary institutes highlighted the benefits of career-based learning at a recent event at Olds College of Agriculture and Technology.
The Thursday event was organized by the Central Alberta Collegiate Institute (CACI), which includes four central Alberta school divisions, Olds College, Red Deer Polytechnic and CAREERS, which works with Alberta schools to connect students to employers for paid internships.
Alberta Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides was there to provide an update on provincial initiatives, including the Career Education Task Force and a dual credit review group that is meeting this summer to look at ways to eliminate barriers, improve transferability and explore the role that collegiate schools can play in career learning.
Dozens of CACI representatives, education department, school division, post-secondary and high school representatives attended the event and heard from a panel of five students who have participated in career learning.
CACI executive director Jackie Taylor said they were pleased to showcase the organization's accomplishments and encourage the expansion of career learning pathways.
"This work is exciting because it makes a measurable difference for students," said Taylor in a statement.
"Success looks like students who transition to post-secondary training with confidence, and students who know what they want, and with that they become more engaged in their academic learning."
Nicolaides said he was "firmly committed and confident that through collaboration, like the ones we see here in central Alberta, and by sharing ideas and knowledge we can continue to build opportunities for students to flourish in school and in life."
Alberta's government is keen on the concept of steering high school students towards careers. The province will put $4.45 million towards dual credit grants for the 2024-25 school year.
Dual credit courses are optional, career-based courses in Grades 10, 11 and 12 that allow students to earn both high school credits and credits that count toward a post-secondary certificate, diploma or degree. In central Alberta, many dual credit programs are focused on health care.
Dual credit programs have proven effective. A survey of a number of Alberta school divisions found 98 per cent of dual credit students graduated, compared with the provincial average rate of 83 to 87 per cent.
Seven out of 10 dual credit students will go into post-secondary trades programs, compared with six per cent overall. Twenty-eight per cent of dual credit students go on to post-secondary degree programs, compared with 16 per cent overall.
The four central Alberta school divisions in the CACI include, Red Deer Public Schools, Red Deer Regional Catholic Schools, Chinook's Edge School Division and Wolf Creek Public Schools.