Many residents of Saskatchewan wish that summer would last all year. This is evident in the number of flights from Regina and Saskatoon every winter to southern destinations with warmer climates. Some Saskatchewan residents also wish the summer break lasted a little longer. That would be the thousands of elementary and high school students returning to their classrooms.
School is where the next generation is shaped and prepared for adult life. School is where basic skills are taught to ensure the future workforce is ready to step in and take over from those nearing retirement. But what else can be done to prepare future workers? Are they also being given the opportunity to view their future careers from a broader perspective? Our industry has advocated for incorporating heavy construction into the curriculum to introduce students to an industry they may never have considered as a career choice.
Jurisdictions throughout North America have already introduced grade school students to components of learning focused on the heavy construction industry. For example, in Arizona and Connecticut, high school career centres use the National Center for Construction Education and Research Heavy Equipment Operations Level 1 and 2 curricula. This opportunity allows students to use high-tech simulators and learn about heavy equipment classification, safety and basic earthwork.
Closer to home, SHCA’s friends at the British Columbia Roadbuilders Association sponsor elementary programs that introduce middle-school students to heavy civil career paths. The curriculum focuses on how highways, bridges and water systems are engineered. These educational programs help introduce elementary and high school students to our industry and capture the attention of students in their early years who may choose heavy construction as a career. Often, we focus too much on what post-secondary education contributes to the industry. While we are grateful for opportunities in our province for post-secondary students to find programs at Saskatchewan institutions that prepare them for a career in heavy construction, we also need to consider how we prepare them before they reach that point.
Earlier this summer, SHCA sought to gauge the Saskatchewan public’s views on introducing a heavy construction curriculum for K-12 students. Sixty-one per cent of respondents said it was a good idea. Thirty per cent were unsure and only nine per cent expressed a negative opinion. The survey results were encouraging and show a public desire to expand educational opportunities for grade school students.
SHCA believes this is long overdue. Our industry often struggles to find the workforce needed to build and maintain infrastructure in Saskatchewan. Tapping into potential workers’ education paths sooner rather than later will go a long way toward building a durable workforce for our industry.
