High school students looking for a little hands-on experience will have more options this September.
<div id="attachment_15108" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="http://www.qpbriefing.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/20130614_094646.jpg"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-15108" class="size-medium wp-image-15108 " style="border: 1px solid black;" alt="Education Minister Liz Sandals" src="http://www.qpbriefing.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/20130614_094646-300x225.jpg" width="300" height="225" /></a>Education Minister Liz Sandals/Photo by Ashley Csanady</div>
The province is <a href="http://news.ontario.ca/edu/en/2013/06/preparing-more-students-for-21st-century-careers.htmlhttp://">expanding its high-skills major to over 4,000 more students this fall</a>, bringing the total number enrolled in the program to 42,000 in 660 schools. The effort mixes classroom learning, hands on practice and work experience to help students prepared for the workforce more directly. From auto shop classes like the one Minister of Education Liz Sandals made the announcement from to computer labs, the 1,600 different majors are as different as the communities and schools that offer them.
More and more schools and boards are turning to the skills-based program, Sandals said. And encouraging more technical and skills learning at the high school level was a major recommendation from the Jobs and Prosperity Council in its final report last December.
It’s a return to what was once a standard of high school education decades ago and could help address youth unemployment down the line.
“There was a long time when school boards sort of got out of doing this type of shop and technical training, so some of what we’re seeing is more interest in sort of coming back to the more conventional shop trades, sort of opportunities,” Sandals said.
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The province has no plans to do away with its standardized testing in public schools, Education Minister Liz Sandals said Friday.
“There’s been some suggestion that it’s about EQAO testing and from our point of view we have no interest in getting rid of EQAO, that’s how we track our progress," Sandals said, fresh from inking a deal with its recalcitrant elementary teachers, who had been resisting the government's overtures for months.
The province <a href="http://www.qpbriefing.com/2013/06/13/devilish-details-of-etfo-deal/">struck a deal Thursday with the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario</a> (ETFO) that include a two-year-wage freeze followed by a raise, as well as improve sick days and bargaining terms. The accord, which must be ratified by June 23, also requires the government conduct two studies, one on health and safety and the other one teacher workload and student performance.
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A clutch of city councillors were spotted at Queen's Park Thursday taking a break from the bizarre turmoil at City Hall.
Mike Layton, Paula Fletcher, Pam McConnell and Sarah Doucette were all seen heading towards NDP offices on the first floor. The left-leaning quartet came up the street during council's lunch break, after a particularly stormy session in which Mayor Rob Ford launched a tirade against opponents on the Toronto Community Housing Corporation's eviction policy.
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The government is placing a $30 million bet on the ponies, in the hopes of keeping the industry galloping.
An additional $30 million in each of the next two years has been allotted to the province’s Horse Improvement Program, which supports local breeding and training initiatives.
“Continuing to invest in this forward-looking program gives the horse racing and breeding industry confidence there will be a future here for Ontario-bred racehorses,” Premier Kathleen Wynne said in a <a href="http://news.ontario.ca/omafra/en/2013/06/supporting-ontario-horse-breeders.html">statement</a> in her capacity as agriculture minister.
Wynne's been eager to undo some of the damage caused when former finance minister Dwight Duncan decided to untether horse racing from slots revenue, which it had shared in since 1999. The move sparked an outcry in rural Ontario, a region already unhappy with the Liberals over wind turbines.
A horse-racing transition panel was struck to rejig the relationship and its final <a href="http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/about/transition/finalreport10152012.pdf">report</a> recommended that ongoing support through the program would help the industry survive and thrive in the new funding environment.
That panel will start consulting with the industry next Friday, June 21 on developing an implementation plan for its recommendations. That report is expected next October.
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Proposed changes to the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe that will come into effect June 17, 2013 were <a href="http://www.ebr.gov.on.ca/ERS-WEB-External/displaynoticecontent.do?noticeId=MTE3ODQ5&amp;statusId=MTc5MzUx&amp;language=en">posted</a> on the Environmental Registry Friday morning.
Key amendments to the legislation include:
<ul>
<li>Updating and extending the population and employment forecasts to 2041;</li>
<li>Extending the overall Growth Plan horizon from 2031 to 2041;</li>
<li>For the year 2031, including both the existing and updated forecasts, to ensure continuity for existing planning matters while providing up-to-date forecasts for future matters;</li>
<li>Application of the two 2031 forecasts, and the 2036 and 2041 forecasts, in relation to in-process planning matters; and</li>
<li>A commitment of the Minister to develop and consult on a new method for measuring and forecasting employment.</li>
</ul>

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