Summit addresses continuing ed
Speakers at the 10th annual Manufacturing Our Future Summit talked about the need for lifelong learning in order to maintain a skilled workforce in the region. Nothing new about that. However, what was new was the setting they now have in which to do it. The new Worcester Technical High School - the first vocational school built in New England in 25 years – is open to non-high-school students both in the morning and into the evening, long after regular class hours are over. This wide-ranging approach was hailed at the summit as the training model for the future.
The summit, held at the Worcester Tech on Oct. 30, attracted many of the region’s business and education leaders. Guest speaker David Stot, dean of further education from Suffolk College, based in Ipswich in the U.K., told the audience, in essence, that a workforce skills gap is not solely a concern of the U.S. Too many young people in the U.K. lack even minimum skills, he said. "We’re not getting the [job] mobility we said we wanted," he noted. To counter this, the college reaches out to youth who have been identified at age 13 as at risk of dropping out of high school, and engages them in vocational activities at the school. It also gives them a global view of the opportunities available to them outside of Ipswich.
Worcester Tech is also exposing students early on to the 24 different trade concentrations it offers. Students entering the school at ninth-grade level get to spend time in each shop to see which ones interest them. But the curriculum is also demanding. Day students must demonstrate employability as a condition of their graduation. "They can take the vision, if they have it, and go on to further education," said Peter Crafts, director of vocational technical education for the Worcester Public Schools. "This is not the end when you leave. Thirty years ago, if you mastered [a discipline], that was it. But now, we’re just Step One."
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments