Press Release
Community Education Network was very disappointed to learn that the Job Creation Partnerships (JCP) proposal submitted earlier this spring was not funded by the Department of Advanced Education and Skills (AES). The result of this decision will be the absence of Communities In Schools (CIS) programming in 17 schools in the southwestern region of the Western School District. The impact of this loss will be felt not only by the school community, but by the community at large. For 17 individuals, the absence of a job with its related skills training will greatly impact their career development experience and future employment prospects. Rural communities will be most affected by this decision where one job means a lot to the community.
CEN learned that its proposals (Bay St. George/Burgeo and Port aux Basques) were not funded through an email on August —-; normally this announcement would have been received in late June. In a follow-up telephone discussion with an AES regional employee, CEN was provided with a rationale for their decision to not fund CIS programming. This program was deemed to be unsuited to the JCP funding stream, and the sponsor was requiring specific skills from program applicants. The latter proved to be untrue to which a review of our job ads can attest. Our question is simply this, “After 10 years of continuous funding, why it is not suited now?” Prior to the notification, CEN had not been involved in any communication exchange which would explain a change in the criteria for submitting or approving JCP proposals.
In a CBC Radio interview, Minister Burke provided a conflicting rationale for her department’s decision to not continue support for this program by stating “ We have received 322 applications and not all could be funded.” She noted that proposals responding to the current labor market trends were successful and 205 of them were approved.
Former JCP participants informed CEN that with this employment opportunity, CIS programming provided them with employability skills, training, and networking experiences in a position of responsibility. In their roles as CIS Site Coordinators, they marketed the schools to the community as an ideal place in which to volunteer. Both marketing and human resource skills were identified by the minister as those needed for the current labor market. In March, 2012 an on-line survey of former CIS Site Coordinators indicated that 86% of them were currently in the work force; 83% of them indicated that the CIS experience helped them find employment. Of the 82 respondents, 98% reported being satisfied with the skill-development opportunities they received.
Area schools inform us that schools and communities were benefitting from CIS program. When additional programs and resources are brought to a school, community members and organizations broaden the educational experience for the children.
As a long-standing JCP sponsor, CEN is proud of its commitment to the skill development of program participants. We would like to engage in further communication with appropriate government representatives to determine appropriate courses of action to bring CIS programming back to schools in the Southwestern region.
At the time of this press release the CEN Director had requested to meet with both Minister Burke and MHA Tony Cornect. So far no meetings have been scheduled.
