'Shocking' number of job-seekers lack basic math skills
Last Updated: Friday, November 10, 2006 | 9:47 AM AT
CBC News
Many industries in Nova Scotia need more high school graduates with math skills, school board officials were told Thursday.
A panel of guest speakers said there were a lot of jobs available, but too many applicants lacked basic math skills.
Paul MacDonald, of Dexter Construction, a company that funds its own two-year course for heavy construction, said this was a "shocking year."
The company guarantees jobs for graduates. But before they can get in, they have to pass Grade 12 and write a basic math test at a Grade 9 level.
"About 55 per cent failed the math," MacDonald told the members of the Nova Scotia School Boards Association.
"Because of that, we had to lower our standards, and because of that we had to do a two-week introduction to math course."
Finding qualified workers is becoming a big concern for Dexter Construction, which has many employees approaching retirement age.
MacDonald said the company is looking to replace at least 30 per cent of its workforce in the next five to 10 years.
Michelin Tire faces a similar situation, both in the need to replace older workers and the hunt for new ones with math skills.
Only one out of 20 applicants who believe they qualify for a job actually do, said spokesman Jeff Maclean.
"I see 19 sad faces for every 20 that come in," he said, adding the problem is Grade 12 graduates who can't do Grade 8 math.
Math was identified as a problem subject in 2004 when departmental exams were reinstated for the first time in 30 years.
In the first round of testing, more than 60 per cent of general-level math students failed the provincewide exams. For exams written in January and June 2005, the average mark for Math 12 was 41 per cent.
Educators say it's one of the challenges they continue to address.
