THE PEEL BUSINESS EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP

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Peel Industry Education Partnership is.

• A vision for the future
• A council under development
• A community development project

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Background

• There is a lack of awareness of existing business
  and education partnering activities and resources
• There are diverse needs and gaps in service
  creating new opportunities for additional
  partnership initiatives
• Peel Region does not have a partnership council
  to support, promote, develop and implement
  business and education partnering activities

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PEELS FUTURE WORKFORCE Peels population is
growing rapidly and so is the demand for a
prepared and skilled workforce
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OUR GOALS

• To involve the community, examine best practices,
  and encourage the development of a sustainable
  partnership in Peel among
• industry and business
• education and training providers
• employment-related services

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SUPPORTERS

• This Employment Ontario project is funded in
  part by the Government of Canada

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THE PROJECT

• A Region-Wide Initiative to Explore and Develop
  a Sustainable Partnership
• A Job Creation Partnership Project involving a
  part-time manager and a team of 4 participants
• Consultation assistance from the Ontario
  Business Education Partnership
• Located at the Centre for Education Training

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Accomplishments

• 3 surveys, over 100 responses
• A website and marketing tools
• Over 20 consultation interviews
• 6 focus group sessions with 75 stakeholders
• Launch event co-ordinated
• 4 participants employed!

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SURVEY RESULTSBusiness/IndustryEducation/Traini
ngEmployment-Related Services
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A great need for career awareness!

• 50 of educators indicate learners are not aware
  of the full range of job opportunities available
• 70 of employers say job seekers are not aware of
  the range of jobs available in their companies
• 97 of service providers indicate that job
  seekers have limited awareness of jobs available

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Career Awareness most needed by Youth and
Immigrants
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Limited Learner Demand

• Programs that need increased promotion
  partnerships
• Co-operative education
• Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program
• Career studies, job search workshops
• Building construction, carpentry
• Manufacturing, some technologies manufacturing
  management
• Early childhood education

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Gap Between Education Choices Employment

• Considerable demand for programs in music,
  theatre, and animation but limited local job
  opportunities in these areas
• Students are interested in co-op/work placements
  in day care, auto repair, electrician, plumber,
  refrigeration law clerk but there seem to be
  limited job/apprenticeship opportunities in these
  areas after graduation

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Barriers to Completing Education/Training

• 80 of educators indicate the need for regular
  income as the most frequent reason that students
  do not complete education/training
• Other important reasons for leaving a program
  include difficulty adhering to school/program
  policies and procedures, lack of interest, and
  inability to keep up

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Barriers to Education/Career Planning

• 78 of service providers listed finding financial
  resources as clients greatest challenge in
  pursuing education/training
• Clients are also challenged in identifying work
  or career goals and in implementing their plan of
  action

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Apprenticeship Issues

• 67 of educators responded that learners found it
  difficult to find an employer for an
  apprenticeship opportunity
• Other barriers included intimidating
  paperwork/record keeping, finding information,
  intimidating or challenging curriculum, and
  difficulty identifying a field to pursue

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Reasons for Graduates Difficulty Finding
Employment
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Employers Recruitment Challenges

• 50 of employers indicated difficulty
  recruiting qualified people this included a
  wide range of positions in varied industries
• Unskilled
• Semi-skilled
• Skilled
• Management
• Professionals

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Top 5 Skills Missing Among New Employees

• Computer skills
• Effective document use
• Continuous learning skills
• Thinking skills
• Oral communication

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Human Resource Issues of Greatest Concern
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Educations Role in Workforce Development

• Business Suggests
• Provide more experiential learning opportunities
• Enhance career awareness guidance
• Incorporate practical knowledge skills
• Develop learners soft skills
• Teach more English, math computer skills

• Education suggests
• Pre-apprenticeship training
• Greater quantity and variety of co-op and work
  placement opportunities
• Guest speaker events
• Mentoring programs/services
• Other suggestions

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Businesss Role in Workforce Development

• Business suggests
• Career events guest presentations
• Work placements and co-op
• Contributing in an advisory role
• A variety of other suggestions including
  mentoring and other ideas

• Educators suggest
• Provide career information on their industries
• Co-ops and work placements
• Apprenticeships
• Curriculum advice/Advisory role
• Financial assistance to education/students
• Hire graduates
• Provide opportunities for at-risk students/youth

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Interest in Partnership Development is
Considerable!

• Receiving more information service
  providers/educators
• Encouraging others involvement -
  educators/service providers
• Actively contributing (, time, inkind)
  business/educators

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Existing Partnership Activities

• There are many education and employment-related
  service providers that offer learning career
  development opportunities in connection with
  business
• There is a lack of awareness of many of these
  services and how to access them

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Focus Group and Further Survey Results
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What can a business education partnership
provide?

• Help the community to plan for change be
  proactive keep a vibrant business community and
  retain the workforce we need
• Provide a forum for working together to solve
  local challenges work together on common goals
• Create and disseminate an inventory of services
  and opportunities
• Inform educators of business trends
  expectations
• Inform business industry of education issues
  and services
• Promote a wider variety of occupations and
  industries
• Offer more practical job experience opportunities
• Help youth get on the right track and get the
  right skills
• And more

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Who needs to be involved?

• Business/employers all sizes and industries
• Industry and professional associations, sector
  councils
• Boards of Trade/Chamber of Commerce
• Unions and union training institutions
• Governments Region, Cities, Town, federal,
  provincial
• Politicians
• Educators/Trainers school boards, colleges,
  university, career colleges, school councils,
  teachers, guidance, co-op, trustees
• Employment Service Providers - many
• Youth, at-risk youth, students, student
  councils/assoc., clubs,
• Parents, youth advisors role models
• A variety of client groups career
  transition/experienced workers,
  immigrants/newcomers, persons with disabilities,
  etc.
• Media
• Other community leaders, service clubs, cultural
  and religious organizations

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How can we encourage participation?

• Be clear about goals, expectations, structure
• Have a plan and productive meetings
• Provide effective, ongoing communication
• Use best practices learn from others
• Demonstrate and communicate the outcomes and
  benefits
• Create mutually-beneficial opportunities
• Have champions contact others
• Incentives, recognition, rewards
• Celebrate, and build on, success

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What advice do you have for us?

• Keep an open mind be innovative
• Be persistent dont give up
• Follow-up, communicate and network
• Use effective marketing strategies create a
  distinct identity
• Work with existing partners and avoid duplication
• Get the right people on board and stay focused on
  agreed goals
• Involve all stakeholders including
  beneficiaries
• Secure stable funding, space and staff
• Keep it enjoyable and productive

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Key Areas of Need

• Coordinating and sharing information
• Developing career awareness
• Promoting and building on experiential learning
• Working together to further develop essential
  skills/attributes for the workplace
• Addressing the needs of disadvantaged groups
• Working in partnership with other organizations
  to implement new projects

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Conclusions

• There is overwhelming support from all
  stakeholder groups that a coordinated partnership
  effort will be valuable in Peel
• There are many issues to address and
  opportunities to pursue
• Lets get started!

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Acknowledgements
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Our thanks to

• Service Canada
• Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities
• Centre for Education Training
• Ontario Business Education Partnership
• Our graphic design company Burn Media Inc.
• Our focus group hosts Peel District School
  Board, Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School
  Board, Caledon Chamber of Commerce and Sun Life
  Financial
• Our focus group speakers Terry Murphy of
  Landscape Ontario, and John Ayling
• Our speakers today
• And all the interested stakeholders who took the
  time

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Our Team

• Present
• Marlene Evangelista
• James Qian
• Paul Damsma

• Past
• Greg Summers
• Roxanne Challenger
• Udayan Bhatt
• Judith Matani
• Hema Kukreja
• Greg Metrakos

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CONTACT US

• Phone [phone]
• Manager Karen McNeil ext. 2401
• Business Education Liaison Officers
  Marlene Evangelista, ext. 3008
• James Qian, ext. 3006
• Paul Damsma, ext. 3007
• Email peelpartnership_at_tcet.com
• Website ww.tcet.com/peelpartnership

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Industry Education Partnerships
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What is it?

• There is no one answer to this question but
  there are common characteristics. Most business
  education councils share three important
  characteristics found in strong collaborative
  organizations
• inclusive, broad-based membership
• shared leadership
• stable source of funding

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Other characteristics

• A group of concerned people from education,
  government, business and labour come together for
  a common cause of helping to support and improve
  education in their community
• Formal, not for profit status
• High ranking representation the members of the
  council are movers and shakers from key sectors
  of the community brought together to facilitate
  change
• Local focus each council develops and executes
  programs services and special events to meet the
  needs of their local community. There is no
  cookie cutter approach

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Why are they effective?

• Expand what is possible in the area of
  community-school collaboration
• Provide a collective response to the evidence
  that suggests that our schools benefit by
  utilizing community resources
• Pool energies and create a unified voice and can
  help identify and eliminate duplication of
  services
• They are a proven means to make sure that
  education is a top priority in the community
• Mechanism to generate youth employment and
  community prosperity
• Vehicle to help educators and employers cross
  traditional barriers (real and perceived)

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Industry Education Partnerships

• Business Education Council of Niagara (BECON)
• Industry Education Council Hamilton (IEC
  Hamilton)
• Halton Industry Education Council (HIEC)
• Foundation for Enriching Education (Huron, Perth)
• Career Education Council (Guelph, Wellington,
  Dufferin)

• Business Education Partnership of Waterloo
• The Learning Partnership (Toronto)
• Kingston Employment Services (KEYS)
• Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation (OCRI)
• South Western Ontario Industry Education Council
  (SWOIEC - Windsor)
• Plus one under development in York Region

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Purpose

• Bring business, education and industry together
  to address local workforce development issues and
  needs and identify solutions for that community

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Possible Activities

• Small business advisory services
• Apprenticeship awareness
• Job Fairs
• Career Exploration programs
• Mentoring programs
• Mayor/partners breakfasts
• Job Finders Club
• Conferences
• Awards
• Skilled Trade events
• Research

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Typical partners

• Business and industry
• School boards
• Community colleges
• Universities
• Private schools
• Municipalities
• Adult education providers
• Employment Services organizations
• Training Boards
• Service clubs
• Chamber of Commerce/Board of Trade
• Professional organizations
• Unions

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OCRI

• By building educational and community
  alliances, our community gains a competitive
  economic development advantage. This is also a
  key contributor to Ottawas success

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IEC Hamilton

• Helping ensure Hamilton has the competencies to
  compete as a community of choice.

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Halton Industry Education Council

• As our society changes, the need for a skilled
  and educated workforce is increasing at a rapid
  rate. HIEC works to forge new bridges between the
  community and Halton's industrial, educational,
  and business sectors for their mutual benefit.

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Benefits

• Identifying talent in each community realizing
  that retaining such talent is increasingly
  important in building a sound economic foundation
• identifying, enhancing, promoting and sharing
  best practices
• working closely with educators in improving the
  delivery of community-based programs that prepare
  students and youth for the workforce and life
• enhancing the provision of school-work programs
• mobilizing teachers federations, faculties of
  education and members of the business community
  to implement professional development
  opportunities in support of publicly-funded
  education

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Models
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Community based
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What does it take?

• Hard work over time
• Patience
• Discipline
• Money
• Commitment
• Follow through