Canada’s performance in higher education and skills development has been fairly strong for many years. On key measures we are at or near the top of international rankings and our highly skilled people contribute to economic competitiveness, social innovation, and political and community well-being.
But there are troubling indications that Canada’s skills and education performance is deteriorating, that not enough is being done to address a range of economic and social problems, and that opportunities and benefits have been poorly distributed across regions and groups. In short, there are signs that we are not doing enough to achieve the high levels of skills excellence and equity we need. Action is needed to sustain and enhance the performance of higher education and skills development in Canada.
In this paper, Dan Munro explores two central needs to Canada’s skills problem: excellence, and equity.
Excellence means asking the question: is Canada producing graduates with the right skills to sustain and enhance the country’s economic competitiveness and social well-being?
And Equity means asking: Are some regions and groups being left behind?
Download the first paper in Canada 2020′s new policy paper series below:
http://canada2020.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/2014_Canada2020_Paper-Series_Education_EN_Final.pdf
Milorad