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Post-secondary education in Canada: a vision from Canadian youth

On the occasion of its tenth anniversary, [Canadian Policy Research Networks] CPRN brought together 144 young Canadians aged 18 to 25 years, randomly selected, for a deliberative dialogue and a summit with 40 decision-makers from government, business, labour, and the not-for-profit sectors. The event took place in Ottawa on November 24-27, 2005. Young participants were invited to talk together about the kind of Canada they want, what choices and trade-offs they are prepared to make as citizens, and what they and others need to do to make their vision happen. Dialogue participants talked about four issues that the Advisory Committee on Engaging Young Canadians and other youth had identified as especially important: learning, work, health, and the environment. This document reports on the discussion of learning issues, and particularly, the elements of the dialogue that touched on post-secondary education. In the context of their overarching vision for Canada and the values they endorsed to guide their thinking - accountability and transparency, long term sustainability and prevention, equity and efficiency - young Canadians articulated their own vision for education in Canada around seven pillars: education is for life, not just for a job; Canada is a bilingual (multilingual) country; Canada is a diverse country to discover; assessment and upgrading skills opportunities should be given to all educators; access to post-secondary education and training should be guaranteed to all who qualify; non-university, vocational and trades paths should be valued and supported; students should be able to focus on learning. Under the main thrust of their vision, ‘No-one must be left behind’, young Canadians went further on specific post-secondary issues: they stressed the importance of valuing different learning paths to work, in addition to college and university, and to find some balance to the exaggerated reliance on academic performance; they emphasized that all forms of education beyond high school should be made accessible to, and affordable for, all qualified and motivated individuals; and they called for all learning systems to be integrated and coordinated nationally, with similar levels of support provided to students and educators throughout the country.

On the occasion of its tenth anniversary, [Canadian Policy Research Networks] CPRN brought together 144 young Canadians aged ...  Show Full Abstract  

Authors: Brouker, Patrice de
Conference name: National Dialogue and Summit Engaging Young Canadians
Corporate authors: Canadian Policy Research Networks (CPRN)
Date: 2006
Geographic subjects: North America; Canada
Resource type: Conference
Subjects: Youth; Employment; Outcomes;

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