Students Gain Work Experience During Summer

More than 150 students across Nova Scotia gained valuable work experience and continued their learning by participating in summer co-operative education programs.

Summer co-op creates more opportunity for students to participate in the co-operative education program. Many students who cannot fit a co-op experience into their academic school year are able to complete co-op in the summer.

"Co-operative education is one of a number of programs we offer in schools to help students prepare for good jobs here in Nova Scotia," said Education Minister Ramona Jennex. "I commend the summer co-op students for their commitment to learning, and thank teachers for supporting these students during the summer co-op positions."

This year 155 students across the province completed more than 400 co-op credits. This was a significant increase over previous years and this growth is expected to continue.

Co-op education provides students with an opportunity to explore career options and get hands-on work experience that better prepares them to enter the workforce or continue their education.

"I had a great summer," said Stephen Faulkner, a Grade 11 student at Prince Andrew High School who is doing a co-op term at Aluma Systems in Dartmouth. "This has been a great experience and I am planning to be an apprentice here when I finish high school."

Employers report that providing summer opportunities for students has worked extremely well. It allows for a more concentrated placement so the student can experience an authentic working experience.

"We have been involved with summer co-op and Building Futures for Youth since it started years ago and we are big supporters," said Kyle MacDonald, project manager at Aluma. "This has been a great experience for us and we hope to continue our involvement."

The co-op education program is available in 85 schools across the province.