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WHfITY FRZfPRS WEDNESDAY, RAY 30, 1990. PAGE 7 PAGE SVEN THE EDUCATIONAL MLSMATCH The Cause of high umempicynuet I spent most of last week's column analyzing the current unempicyment figures and the waste they represent to our ecOnOmy. Sinoe the uniemployed (ini the definition cf Statscan) are a]l able and willing to work and since employers are desperate to find good staff it follows that the problem is a chronic mismatch between the needs of employers and the abilitias cf the unemployed. The principle cause is an educa- tional system which faîls to respond to the needs of business. The moot visible proof is the unempicyment figures amongst young people. For 15 to 19-year-olds the March unemploynxent rate in Ontario was 12.5 per cent. TIhese are kids who are finished with school - some have graduated, some flot - but they lack either the basic sicIlla or the attitudes they need to hold even the most merdai jobs. Thousands cf such jobs, like waitress or store clerk, are available and begging for someone te fil them. Before you rsnd with the pat answer that these young people don't relywant to work, remember that uriemployment figures include only thoee that are able, willing, and looking for work. Even if it were true that those 12.5% are simply lazy bums, then surely, the educational system which molds our id for a third of every waking day, bears a large measure of responsibility for such attitudes. The unemployment rate in the 20-24 age group drops te 8.1 per cent; 6.1 in the 25-34 age range; and 4.4 in the 35-44 range. Clearly, a lot ef people learn the sicils and attitudes required te get and hold jobs only after they3ve left school. The School cf liard Knocks may not cost the education ministry anything but it costs the economy billions. Unfortunately, prefessional educators really don't recog- nize that they1re part cf the problem. I chscussed the unem- ploymnent situation with senior officiais of the Durham Board- of Education at a education/business symposium last fail. I pointed eut that other countries have unemployrnent rates less than haif cf ours and was shecked te hear the standard, platitude that our unemployed dond'want te work. Education is designed te produce useful adults. You can add as many caveats as you liker dressit up soit isnt uite se blunt, but basically that's it. You can- define "usefUl" in many ways, and you can point out the social value ef a good education, but clearly in a society where the vast majority ýholJ jobs, the ability te get and hold such a job is parainount. Ifeducation doesn't produce adults with apprepriate. sills, then it fails te achieve its fundamental goal. In the sixties and- seventies, students were given choices from new and exciting subjects which led them on unrealistic career paths, only te be *dashed on the rocky shores of pragmatism. The system'abdicated its responsibility te direct studentstewards realistic occupations. The vast niajority of students would like te go te university yet only 30% make it. Many cf the, rest wil ultimately end up in higher paying, more rewarding careers, yet studies show that moet cf them learn about their eventual professions only alter leaving high school. The hidden bias tewards umiversity is undoubtedly related te the fact that al elementary and high school teachers are themselves university grads. The students. who can't make that standard are subtlely abandened te find their own way. And many do net aven have the basic skIlls they should have acquired by grade five. Twenty par cent cf Canadian aduits are functionaily illiterate - unable te raad writtan instructions in their workplaca. Business bas bean screaarnng for years te emphasiza the basic iils: reading, 'riting, ýrithmatic, and responsibility - the 4R's; yet little changes. The Board cf Education symposium lest fail was antitled "Education - Everybody's Business" and was meant te be a dialogue between business peopla and profassonal educators. Tha business leaders who were present deliverad a pretty clear message about what they wanted. Anothersypiu was te be held on June 13, but has now been postponed te the fail, a full year after, the firet. At this rata, decisions are still years away and graduates who meet the business standard perhaps a decade after that. Meanwhile Canada's comnpetitiveness in tha world is daclining, and unempîcyment is costing the ecenomy billions. In a business Setting, the second meeting would have ben no more than a menth after tha firat, and a plan of action would b. reeentad to b. discussed and acted upon. Unfortunately bureaucracias don't work that way. The principla problem with our aducational system ie that everybody bas been lulled inte the belief that education is a social need rather than an econernic one. As a result the maor batties cfthe last twanty-five years 'have been over 0OE AVICT( GANPPLI4N bl§CUS5SPE14 CUKIENJ (ON UUIQO4L IM PASSE.. Wei, ONTARIO COUNTY HOUSE 0F REFUGE, 1938 The Ontario County House.cf Refuge, a home for the dastitute cf the coumty, is now High Street Manor, on the west aide cf High Street, north cf Fairview Lodge. It was built in 1901-03 and replaced by Feirviaw Lodga in 1951. The residents maintainad the landscaping seen in this picture and cparated a 100-acre farin adjacent to tha building. TIhe -farm was sold for building lots in tha Cochrane Street area ini the mid 195N. Suparintandants cf the lieuse of PRefugel were: J. E. Schiller, J. F. Lavery James M. Read and KathleenIRaad. WMutb rdaIvu.pho 10 'YEARS AGO fr-om the Wadnasday, May 28, 1980 adition cf tha WHE-iTBYFREE PRES *An amonia spill at a Kinsal farin as sent eight people te hospital inclàding two Whitby * Wi will hold its lOth annuel Recognition of A.ciavement night on Juna 18. *Peter E tmanslda cf VWhitby St. John Ambulance will b. honored by Ontario Lieutenant- Govarnor Pauline McGibbon with the ranlc of Serving Officar of the Ordar cf St. John. *Ahby Zotz of Henry Street High School was named bast actrees t the Ileatra Ontario Festival in Peterborough for her roi. in 'Tha Diary cfMAnae Frark" 25 YEAIRS AGO fr-om the Thursday, May 27, 1965 editi o f the wHffIEY WEEIKLY NEWS Th'Iis issue is niissng., 125 YEARS AGO from the Thursday, May 25, 1865 edition cf the wm- y 1CHRONICJ.8 " Whithys Roman Catholics are seeldng suhocriptions of money to build a church. " The Whitby Infantry Company paradecf and fire a "feu de joie" to celebrate Queen Victorials birthday yesterday. " fie Town Council bas spent $608 te spread crushed atone on Whitbé shret& *Prizes are as much as $100 a race for'the spring races cf the Ontario Turf Club at Whitby. "Mir ----------