Revitalizing Technical Vocational Education in Manitoba

Pillars of Action ( 860 KB)

Manitoba Advanced Education and Literacy, Manitoba Education and Manitoba Entrepreneurship, Training and Trade are committed to creating an integrated high quality education and training system across Manitoba that builds a skilled, knowledgeable, adaptable and competitive workforce.

The renewed Technical Vocational Initiative (TVI) will focus on finding and developing ways to provide Manitoba youth and adults with effective career pathways that address current and future labour market needs.

The Initiative builds on the successes achieved through existing programs, such as the Senior Years Technology Program, Senior Years Apprenticeship Option, the Aboriginal Apprenticeship Program, prior learning assessment and recognition, and dual credit options. At the same time, TVI works to improve the image of technical vocational education and the trades, enhance access to and quality of programming, promote training of teachers, and support the overall coordination of technical vocational education across Manitoba's urban, rural and northern communities.

Vision

To offer Manitobans a comprehensive continuum of technical vocational education pathways that is universally accessible, seamless across education levels, and synchronized with labour market needs.

Pillars of Action

• Demonstrate innovative and best practices designed to create an up-to-date and realistic image of technical vocational careers and program options. Support innovative Demonstration Projects that promote positive images of vocational trades and technical programs.
• Collaborate with a broad consortium of partners - schools, colleges, universities, business, industry and government - to promote the importance and benefits of technical-vocational careers, education and training.
• Raise the profile of technical-vocational careers through publicity and information to students, parents, schools, and the community.
• Promote the professional image of technical-vocational careers and the trades within schools and to the parents.
• Link the importance of technical-vocational careers to technical-vocational education.
• Position technical vocational education as an integral and equal part of the mosaic of educational choices.
• Collect base-line data to determine technical-vocational student program enrollment and completion rate impact.

• Share information and practices gained from Demonstration Projects throughout the province.
• Support Demonstration Project based activities.
• Organize student and parent focus groups to create Technical Vocational Education (TVE) awareness.
• Propose to reference TVE in school plans and/or the curriculum.
• Encourage school-based activities with TVE focus.
• Facilitate effective industry-school linkages and student exposure to business/industry.
• Develop/facilitate teacher/counselor awareness-creating activities for TVE and technical-vocational careers.
• Present to professional organizations - Trustees, school Superintendents, Principals, teacher groups - in order to create awareness and understanding of TVE among decision makers and practitioners.
• Work with teacher education and training faculties to help create awareness of the importance and benefits of TVE and trades.
• Launch and maintain a TVI website and provide appropriate information links.

• Select program clusters for review.
• Establish specific program review committees to undertake necessary review based on relevance, compliance with industry standards, outcomes, articulation and accreditation, transferability.
• Develop program recommendations and implementation timelines.
• Implement a self-sustaining review process to maintain program relevance and currency.

• Develop a plan for generic articulation pathways.
• Work with stakeholders to develop appropriate articulation criteria.
• Encourage potential program articulation partners to engage in the process.
• Post articulation agreement templates on TVI website for easy access.
• Publicize program articulation benefits to students, parents, educators.
• Explore and develop program articulation and partnership opportunities with industry and business.
• Engage universities in the articulation process.
• Collect data to assess successful secondary to post-secondary program transition rates.

Teacher Currency

• Engage teacher, administration and business and industry representatives in discussions about professional development needs and innovative approaches to promote teacher currency in technology and trade areas.
• Develop criteria to determine teacher currency (competency) in relation to industry standards.
• Explore effective ways to develop, implement and maintain effective trade-related professional development for teachers.
• Strengthen links between school professional staffs and industry for enhanced professional development opportunities and activities.
• Support mechanisms for effective relevant information exchange between schools and industry.
• Develop appropriate policy recommendations.

Technical-Vocational Teacher Shortages

• Analyze current policies, requirements and philosophical underpinnings related to vocational teacher training.
• Collect data to determine vocational teacher shortages and program/subject areas most affected.
• Identify disincentives to entry into the vocational teaching profession from the trades.
• Work with stakeholders to develop strategies for the removal of disincentives.
• Support the recruitment and retention of technical-vocational teachers.

• Initiate equipment upgrade funding application process.
• Review and select applications against announced selection criteria.
• Inform applicants of application status and funding disbursement timelines.
• Develop and implement an evaluative process to determine impact of equipment funding on target program.
• Support the publicity efforts to students, parents and the community related to equipment upgrades.

Expected Outcomes

Through activities linked to the Action Pillars the Technical Vocational Education Initiative will create an articulated, outcomes-driven approach for skilled career education that leads to:

Increased student

• enrolment rates in high school and college technical vocational program,
• graduation rates from high school and college technical vocational program,
• transition rates from high school to college technical vocational programs, and
• employment rates into technical vocational careers.

Increased community

• capacity to address shortages in highly skilled occupations, allowing for enhanced provincial competitiveness in industry sectors.

Opportunities in Technical Vocational Education

Great Careers.  Great Futures.

Brochure ( 758 KB)

 

The Technical Vocational Initiative will be a key component in giving Manitobans a competitive advantage in the global marketplace.