It is up to the business community to clearly communicate its needs and requirements to educational institutions and policy-makers. The business community should work with government and educators to expedite credentialling programs that are driven by the requirements of learners and employers. The provincial government should set the twin goals of making BC students the best in Canada, while also steadily improving BC s performance relative to other countries on these tests. BC needs to benchmark the outcomes of its education system against those of economically successful competitors with respect to levels of participation and achievement, including measurements of literacy, employability skills and job specific skills. The province should encourage rather than try to prevent the emergence of innovative and flexible private sector based education and training options.
Competition is a positive force, in education as in other areas.
Quite a few private training institutions have efficient programs and impressive records of placing their graduates in related employment. Universities and colleges in BC are subject to too much intrusive government regulation and micro-management. The province would benefit if these institutions had more authority to determine and revise their programs, manage their activities, and set their own fees. The current salary cap on senior personnel within universities and colleges is hindering efforts to build high quality institutions. It should be rescinded, along with the current freeze on tuition.