The flip-side of yesterday's PSE announcement

The recent release of the Conservative "policy" on post-secondary education has spawned quite a bit of criticsm in the  Alberta blogosphere. While I agree the Cons policy is pretty underwhelming, I will leave the analysis of said policies to my much more able counterparts.

Instead I would like to point the attention of our readers to a really interesting article in the February edition of Alberta Venture, which serves to provide some context to the PSE policy debate. The article, entitled 'Bucks or Books', provides an insightful discussion of the risk to Alberta's future economy posed by Alberta's current economy. The article starts with an anecdote about MLA Rick Miller  and his son Chris, who being only two years out of high school is pulling in close to $25 000 more per year than his politician father. The author goes on to make the argument that Alberta's 'boom-twisted' economic logic means that jobs  with relatively low skill levels have become over-valued in terms of the financial rewards (i.e. income) associated with them. This is problematic, because when Alberta's boom inevitably goes bust, it means we're going to have a huge pool of available low skilled labor with no where to go.

Compounding this problem is the fact that Alberta already leads the nation in high school drop out rates, with a full 25% of youth choosing not to complete their high school diplomas. A huge contributing factor to this problem is the willingness of many Albertan employers to hire anyone and everyone regardless or formal training or education.

Not long ago, MLA Rick Miller recalls, he was in Fort McMurray. “We did a tour of the Albion Sands plant and they told us they will take anybody off the street. And, with two weeks’ training, you’re driving one of those 300-tonne mining trucks and making $66,000 a year. Anybody.”

The AFL’s McGowan admits the problem. Employers grabbing warm bodies off the streets – no questions asked – to fill critical job shortages risk putting a chill on their own corporate futures. Those who don’t actively participate in creating apprenticeship opportunities to train young people in various trades will find themselves saddled with an under-skilled, undereducated workforce that can’t keep pace with evolving technologies and the greater productivity future economies will demand.

Although the article itself ends on an optimistic note (it is Alberta Venture after all), I'm less inclined to see the problem through rose-colored glasses. Although student interest in seeking higher learning opportunities is something that's difficult to control, you would think the least we could do is ensure we have room for the people that do choose to attain higher skill levels. Unfortunately, Premier Stelmach seems to disagree.

Last Spring, NAIT was operating at 200% of their capacity, and students were literally camping out overnight to get a spot in some of NAIT's most sought after programs. Nonetheless (and in spite of several empty platitudes), the school was skipped over as the PCs dished it out in last year's 'price of prosperity budget.'  Although, staunch Tories can point to one of this year's swath of pre-election announcements, which increased funding for NAIT by a one-time infusion of $9.8 million as an example of the government's dedication to young tradespeople. While this sounds great, a quote from NAIT president, Sam Shaw, in response to the announcement (and included in the government's own press release), says it all.

"The money announced today will cover a portion of our deferred maintenance and we look forward to continuing to work with the Minister to determine our current and future needs (my emphasis).”

Obviously, addressing a portion of deferred maintenance is necessary and long overdue,  however it does little to create the new spaces NAIT so desperately needs. The Conservatives had the chance yesterday to actually address the blatant lack of capacity at the province's technical schools. But again, their unambitious, business-as-usual promises left little to inspire or even reassure Alberta students looking for the skills they need to secure long-term success.