Linking Apprenticeship and “Essential Skills”

Would you like to know:

* The role that Essential Skills may play in the successful completion of apprenticeship training?
* About apprenticeship training projects across Canada that involve Essential Skills?
* How apprenticeship stakeholders are coming together to create momentum for Essential Skills initiatives that benefit all?

If so, you will be interested in the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum - Forum canadien sur l’apprentissage (CAF-FCA)’s 
Essential Skills study.

What are “Essential Skills?”

CAF-FCA’s Accessing and Completing Apprenticeship Training in Canada - Perceptions of Barriers Report cites the lack of 
Essential Skills as one factor which may prevent a person from successfully accessing and completing apprenticeship 
training. Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) defines Essential Skills as the: 

“…skills needed for work, learning and life. They provide the foundation for learning all other skills and enable people 
to evolve with their jobs and adapt to workplace change.” 

HRSDC has identified 9 Essential Skills:

* Reading Text 
* Writing 
* Continuous Learning
* Document Use 
* Oral Communications 
* Thinking Skills
* Numeracy 
* Working with Others 
* Computer Use 

Discover the relationship between apprenticeship training and Essential Skills

As a result of the Essential Skills findings in the Perceptions and Barriers Report, the CAF-FCA has undertaken a research 
study. The study examines the relationship between success in apprenticeship training and Essential Skills, and contains a 
selection of detailed case studies of projects across Canada. 

Through the study we will explore:

* The degree to which each of the Essential Skills may be considered an enabler to accessing and completing apprenticeship 
training programs in Canada;
* Whether one or several Essential Skills are uniquely linked to apprenticeship;
* How labour and business organizations, educators, equity seeking groups and/or government jurisdictions across Canada are 
successfully initiating, developing, and implementing  apprenticeship and Essential Skills projects;
* Whether these initiatives are specific to particular regions, trades or segments of the population; 
* The degree to which apprenticeship stakeholders understand the benefits of Essential Skills;
* Practical information that can be used to strategize and plan Essential Skills initiatives in your apprenticeship programs;
* And more…

The final report is scheduled for completion in late 2006.

For more information, please visit: www.caf-fca.org/english/essentialskills.asp