Making New Brunswick the province that works

Can New Brunswick be the province that works? The minority government of Blaine Higgs has embarked on an ambitious program to transform schooling, from kindergarten to college, and make the province a leader in experiential education. It’s planning dramatic changes to the way children are taught, saying schools need to reintroduce trades courses, teach financial literacy (a big student demand) and begin instruction in a second language as early as daycare. Next year the province will eliminate early grades, by grouping together pupils from Kindergarten to Grade 2 in “flexible primary learning environments” based on abilities. It’s also thinking of coop placements for high school students. How else can one of the fastest-aging provinces fill an expected 120,000 job openings over the next decade?

New Brunswick’s four public universities are trying to do their part, with a coalition called Future Ready NBthat aims to make the province a leader in experiential learning. It’s designed to keep youth from leaving school early, or from leaving the province altogether, and may be the best way to retain international students, too. I spoke at the inaugural Future Ready NB gala in Moncton and met an impressive local entrepreneur, Terry Malley, who’s a convert to work-integrated learning. Malley runs his own manufacturing company with 70 employees (about 10 short of his needs). He’s come to see student placements as essential to strategy. Bonus: his student teams have developed new industrial processes and expanded his export markets. Trevor Holder, the minister for post-secondary education, training and labour, says it’s a matter of survival for New Brunswick. The world isn’t functioning like it did a generation ago. Nor should education. 

@FutureReadyNB, RBCFutureLaunch, @TrevorHolderMP, @MountAllison, @UNB, @UniversityofMoncton, @SaintThomasUniversity