Why is education important?

So why should you go back to school or re-enter training?

Having an educated and skilled workforce is important for the success of any community. The Education Works Alliance wants to help our community be successful and prosperous, and education is a key way to do this.

Based on numbers from the 2011 National Househould Survey, Grand Erie (Brant, Haldimand, Norfolk, New Credit and Six Nations) can be proud it tops the Ontario average in the number of people who have college degrees, apprenticeships and trade certificates.

But our communities needshelp to bring education levels up to the Ontario average in many important areas if we are going to be successful in tomorrow’s economy and have the workers companies seek.

Grand Erie has:

• a higher percentage of people who have not completed secondary school,
• a lower percentage of people who have some post-secondary education compared to the rest of Ontario.
• The percentage of people with university degrees in Grand Erie is half that of the Ontario average.

In Canada, there are fewer jobs for people who have not completed secondary school, or who just have a secondary school education. On average, people with higher education make more money as well, by as much as $14,000 a year.

During the economic downturn, the number of jobs open for people at these education levels shrank. The number of jobs for people with post-secondary education, including a college diploma or university degree, continued to increase. This follows a trend seen for the past two decades.

Ontario will need better trained workers as many skilled workers will retire in the coming years. Education can help deal with this coming skills gap.