Partnership Announced To Support Technology Career Pathway Programming in High Schools

To cultivate homegrown talent and the growth of a diverse workforce in the technology and innovation industry, today the Honourable Andrew Furey, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Honourable Tom Osborne, Minister of Education, announced a partnership and pilot project that will bring Technology Career Pathway (TCP) programming to some provincial high schools starting in the 2021-22 school year.

This collaboration will develop new pathways, including academic opportunities, to support interested students to more easily transition from high school to Information Technology programs at College of the North Atlantic.

Premier Furey and Minister Osborne were joined by Goronwy Price, Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District (NLESD) and Elizabeth Kidd, President and CEO of College of the North Atlantic (CNA) in announcing this partnership.

The first TCP program under this MOU will launch in the 2021-22 school year as a pilot in eight schools in the Avalon, Central, Western and Labrador regions of NLESD. Students participating in the program will start coursework in Grade 10 with the current high school computer science course, transitioning to post-secondary courses in Python programming in grades 11 and 12. Python is a widely used programming language in fields such as web development, data science and artificial intelligence.

Students completing the pilot program will receive a micro-credential from CNA indicating they have completed the Python TCP, as well as course credit at the post-secondary level. The program will also feature an experiential learning placement at a business in the province’s technology and innovation sector for at least six weeks.

TechNL estimates that the current capacity for software development graduates from all sources in the province meets only 10 to 15 per cent of the projected skill needs in the provincial technology and innovation industry. This pilot and future TCP programs will help narrow that skill gap while providing young Newfoundlanders and Labradorians with early exposure to an industry with significant job prospects. Future TCP programs can focus on areas such as cyber security, infrastructure and web development.