Education system needs rethink to handle high tech economy

In Nova Scotia the outcomes of children, their teachers, principals and schools aren’t measured scholastically, nor compared with higher-level standards because politicians support “inclusion” for social reasons.

Therefore, better educated kids are placed with those who are behind scholastically so the weaker students can remain with their age group – but better students don’t get educated at the levels they can handle, with their age group.

This is one of the reasons why very few higher tech firms start up in Nova Scotia – the education system hasn’t been producing the levels of knowledge and skills that are currently in demand for each graduating year.

Why? Teachers are all paid the same for years of service instead of in relation to the measured outcome of their students against international levels through Grades 3, 6, 9 and 12. Therefore, most Nova Scotia kids got mediocrity in the last 20 years from Canada’s eighth-ranked education system. How many have better jobs in Nova Scotia? How many have left?

In the last 20 years – 20,000 citizens – mostly kids, have left Nova Scotia as soon as they quit or finished school. Why? Most finished public school with a sub–standard education. So now, too few higher skilled individuals are available to work in Nova Scotia’s emerging higher tech global economy.

Our dominance of poorly educated citizens can’t supply the thousands of individuals for work that require higher-level skills and knowledge, than is currently available to Nova Scotia.

Also, better educated immigrants aren’t increasing fast enough to cover this shortfall of the need for people with higher level math and science skills.

Another reason kids leave: poorly educated kids have been locked out of employment by Nova Scotia’s minimum wage system, for which politicians and bureaucrats determine pay levels, rather than the private sector.

If our private sector is to grow annually, all citizens – not just Nova Scotia businesses – must be freed of the politicized rules, regulation, taxes and immigration handicaps that limit growth opportunities for all citizens because any new or older subsidy generates increases in tax rates to cover subsidized employment rates that limits continuing and new investment in new private sector initiatives.

This is why a few U.S. states – not burdened by politicized minimum wages with fewer business rules, regulations and taxes – are growing significantly at a fast pace.

Nova Scotia can too when our citizens vote for a greatly improved education system and for politicians to eliminate longstanding politicized rules, regulations, jobs, taxes and immigration requirements that undermine economic growth. Jim Peers Sydney