Province to invest $1.8 million in student co-op program
Posted Feb 8, 2011 03:14:28 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Students wanting to take advantage of co-operative education opportunities got a huge boost Tuesday.
The province has announced it will invest $1.8 million annually, which will help fund 450 positions a year.
The new program is called the Strategic Co-operative Education Incentive and provides organizations with half of the required minimum hourly wage of $15.00 an hour.
Eligibility has also been expanded to include all private sector, government-funded and non-profit organizations.
Minster of Economic and Rural Development and Tourism Percy Paris says co-operative education is important for students in terms of life skills and says he hopes the program will continue to expand.
“Even though we’re investing an additional million dollars” said Paris “If we had more, the investment would be even larger.”
He adds that if the past is any indication, the growth of this incentive program will be great for students.
“We had a program at Dalhousie that had a co-op initiative as part of it and the employment rate in that particular program was well in excess of 90%”
Paris says the way ahead is high-value jobs and Nova Scotians need more opportunities to learn valued skills to step into those roles, and that co-operative education helps them to do that.
