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Letter: Trades programs have huge value

An interesting and positive story in the March 9 edition, regarding trades programs.
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Alexis Creek Elementary/Junior Secondary School Grade 9 student Ellen Sam (right) participates in an electrical workshop while receiving instruction from School District 27 electrician Dallas Smith during a Trades Awareness Day at the school Tuesday.

An interesting and positive story in the March 9 edition, regarding trades programs.

In the early 1960’s Alberta decided to introduce trade education in high school. Students in grade 11 and 12 could take trade studies for one half their total credits. Also, students who completed the two years of study in the same trade could get credit for one year of apprenticeship.

Trades offered included auto mechanics, plumbing, machining, electrician, carpentry, printing trades, and one school even offered aircraft maintenance. Still I may have missed some. All instructors were required to have trade certification. Registration was open to both boys and girls in all the trade fields.

However, these programs were never really accepted by the “educator elites” so, by about 1990, pretty well all the facilities were closed and students were directed towards computer and academic programs.

Having been one of the instructors in that program, I considered it a shame to deprive students of the opportunity offered by the trades program.

So it is heartening to see that there are still schools that can see the benefit of offering a trades program to their students. I only hope that those students opting for that route are not considered second class students.

An interesting footnote; there were two brothers, one was taking electrical engineering at U of A, the other was taking the electrician course in high school. The university student often asked the high school student for clarifications. The high school student’s teacher happened to be father to both students.

Alfred Schalm