High school students earning credits for volunteering at seniors’ home

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VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – School trustees in Vancouver have made it possible for more secondary graduates to earn credit by volunteering at a seniors’ home.

Mike Klassen with the BC Care Providers Assocation is hoping more than other 60 other districts across the province will take similar action to help eliminate an ongoing shortage of health care aides.

“We are going to continue to work across the province and talk to them and really make the strong case for making young people aware of these career opportunities in seniors’ care.”

Klassen says the province continues to face a shortage of front line workers in health care at a time when seniors’ care is the largest growth area for any employment sector, including film and high tech, over the next ten years.

“This is probably a great exposure to the health care industry and potentially a way to ladder up into other positions such as LPN or a registered nurse or even an administrator later on in their career.”

Until now, only two students in Vancouver could apply for “dual credit” to be “job ready” after graduation.

That number’s now expected to at least double.

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