Selkirk College earns $675,000 for Employment Skills Access program
By Contributor
For the third year in a row Selkirk College and the Kootenays will benefit from the Province of British Columbia’s Employment Skills Access Initiative (ESA), with nearly $675,000 in funding.
This year the funding will be put toward the delivery of Administrative Skills Training (AST) and Early Childhood Care Education Assistant (ECCE) programs.
This year ESA is investing a total of $13 million at post-secondary institutions throughout the province to provide people who are unemployed and in need of additional skill development with tuition-free, group-based training that will prepare them for entry or re-entry into the workforce.
The initiative targets training based on labour market research, which identifies areas of the labour market that are currently experiencing or projected to experience labour or skill shortages.
“Higher education is key to our province’s growth and prosperity as we develop the workers of the future,” says BC Minister of Advanced Education, Naomi Yamamoto.
“Under the BC Jobs Plan, we’re working with our quality post-secondary institutions to increase learning and employment opportunities, building the foundation for a stronger economy.”
The Selkirk College Administrative Skills Training certificate program will run from Jan. 9 – June 22 at the Tenth Street campus in Nelson.
This program provides students with a variety of office administration skills training, leadership development, as well as industry certificates and practical work experience in the field.
The Early Childhood Care and Education Assistant program, is being offered online and runs from Feb. 13 – June 29.
This certificate program offers students training in aspects of early childhood care , first aid training and also practical work in the field.
Selkirk College ESA Program Coordinator, Dawn Lang says this government funding is not only important to the college, but also to the entire West Kootenay region because it helps to train region residents for jobs and fill projected gaps in the region’s labour market.
“Our proposals are based on labour market research; we look at the regional information and consider individual community needs as well,” Lang says.
“We’re talking with our stakeholders and finding out what’s needed in the communities within the Selkirk College region.
The intent is to provide training that benefits both the individuals and our West Kootenay communities.”
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