Trend to TVE similar in China, Canada

 

 

 

 

 

College President Bill Day participated
in a UNESCO symposium on technical
and vocational education in
September.

Canada and China are half a globe apart,
but face many of the same pressing issues
around education policy, says College
President Bill Day.

Day was the Canadian representative at
the recent UNESCO International Sympo-

sium on Technical and Vocational Educa-
tion from September 13-18 in Beijing. He
presented a document on current trends
and issues in technical and vocational edu-
cation (T VE) in Canada to delegates from
around the world.

Day says issues that affect Canada like the
high cost of public education, lack of
adequate training for adults, high student
drop-out rates, and lack of investment in
research and development are serious
problems in China too.

"It was held in China because the govern-
ment there is staring at the same issues as
we are here. More technical and voca-
tional education is a primary policy issue
for them, and they asked UNESCO to or-
ganize the consultation."

It’s no longer assumed that a university-
educated population is the key to
generating wealth, Day notes.

"The old assumptions have become less
clear. We don’t really know how wealth is
generated. It was thought to be generated

President’s Report highlights - September

On August 27/28, I chaired a meeting of
the ACCC Executive in North Bay, On-
tario. There was agreement that the matter
of student aid should be pursued by the
ACCC as a matter of national importance.
Regardless of the current difficulties in
British Columbia in the area of education,
it is clear that British Columbia and its
colleges, institutes and learners are being
more adequately supported than is the case
in most other provinces.

A full-day strategic planning workshop oc-
curred on September 9. This was
organized through Mia Gordon’s office. It
was a very successful session, and in-
volved active participation of Deans,
Department Heads, Senior Staff and repre-
sentatives of the Education Council and
COG. Mia Gordon will be providing fur-
ther information on this as required, and
more importantly, the board will see the
fruits of the workshop of the next iteration
of our College plan.

The new employee orientation session
was held on September 3. Gordon Gilgan
acted on my behalf in welcoming and

providing an orientation and background
of the College to new employees. On the
same day, a safety audit meeting was held,
as one of a sequence of such meetings
involving College employees and admini-
stration as well as representatives of the
Student Society. Every effort is being
made to take into account current social
and behavioral trends, in keeping Douglas
College a safe and supportive place within
which to work and learn.

Douglas College is becoming a well
known institution, and as a result, there

through a well-educated population, but in
Canada we have a tide of university gradu-
ates, but no significant increase in wealth
generation."

Day was a co-author of the symposium
report drafted at the end of the meeting. A
long list of recommendations was made to
member states on ways to accelerate
implementation of the 1989 UNESCO
Convention on Technical and Vocational
Education. There is a shift in British Co-
lumbia and a similar shift in China toward
creating a more skilled workforce through
more technical and vocational education --
a process that requires a change in the
traditional mindset.

"We're in the process of changing atti-
tudes toward the prestige and respect for
people who know how to do things and do
them well. Respect must be given to the
highly trained person."

If you would like to review the Report of
the International Symposium on Technical
and Vocational Education, call Barb
Bessey at 5380. A

has been a steady traffic of political candi-
dates having meetings inside the College
to acquaint personnel and students with
their party platforms. The assistance and
skill of our Public Information Office per-
sonnel has been called into play ona
number of occasions, and I wanted to take
this opportunity to express public apprecia-
tion to them for their tact and support of
Douglas College as a public institution.

Bill Day

 

INside INformation

INside Douglas College is published
the first Tuesday of every month by the
Public Information Office. The next is-
sue will appear Tuesday, November 2.

Deadline for submission for next issue
is noon Tuesday, October 19. Submis-
sions on floppy disk in WordPerfect or
ASCIl format would be appreciated.
Material may be edited for brevity

 

and clarity.

Tips, scoops and suggestions are al-
ways welcome. Please contact the
Public Information Office, (604) 527-
5325, FAX: (604) 527-5095, Room 4840
at the New Westminster campus, 700
Royal Avenue, New Westminster, B.C.

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