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Page A4 — Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 16, 1990 ”

o TERRACE STANDAR a

ESTABLISHED APRIL 27,1988 _

Publlahar:’ Bote

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Repatation No. 7820. 4647 Lazelle Ave., Terrace, B. 3.0., V8G- 18 (604). 636-7283.

Sacving th Tarra aa. Pubatad on Widiesday of éach week by Carbvo Presa (1969) Las 4667 Lazste Avo, Terraca, British Columbia, ;
Stories, photographs, austrations, designs snd typestyies in the Terrace Standard 8th property of 8 eon hoes, inch Carbon Press (1969) LW, in

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. Editor:
* Rod Link

Production Manager: a
Edouard Credgour af a

ous Caro: Hioughby — Compasitor, Rose ca
* oe Carotyn Anderson ~: et tia aoe

Correspondents for .

The business of building roads and
bridges in B.C. is very important for the
very nature of the province demands ex-
cellent transportation routes to unite and
to connect. But it is also very political
because pavement and spans mark the

kind of. material progress a government

can take to the polls.

Three years ago the provincial govern-
ment combined these two separate yet
combined realities by creating transpor-
tation committees for each of the pro-

vince’s economic development regions.

The goal was to provide detailed lists for
each region of primary and secondary
projects and a general outline of what
issues need attention.

By and large the report of the nor-
thwest’s transportation committee sub-
mitted last year was excellent. As such,
said the provincial government, the
report would form the basis for decisions
on what transportation projects would

"The road to...

be undertaken in the coming years. _
But a curious thing happened between
that report and the recent release by the

provincial government of the list'of what ‘Ff

transportation projects would take place
this year. Two projects given secondary
ratings by the committee are now under-
way. One, the road to the Shames Moun-
tain ski development was dropped into
the lap of the highways ministry last

year. (It'll cost an estimated $2.6 million —

— $1.2 million of which was spent last
year. This year’s $1.4 million expen-
diture represents 10 per cent of capital
project commitments for the area in
1990.) The second is a design study for a
road to what some day might be a pro-
vincial port at Kitimat.

This is not to suggest that the two pro-
jects are‘not worthy of being developed.
But it does suggest that governments re-
tain the right to adjust situations to their
own benefit.

Trucking along

Two recent news items indicate natives
continue to make headway toward self
government.

The first is the five-year, $76 million

agreement’ between a Hazelton-based’”

native organization and the Department
of Indian and Northern Affairs. This
agreement gives the Gitksan-
Wet’suwet’en Local Services Society con-
trol over health, education, social ser-
vices, roads, sewer systems and economic
development among the bands in the
Hazelton area. .

What’s interesting is that the society is
the administrative arm of the Office of
the Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en Chiefs,

the body that’s suing the federal and pro- -

vincial government over their land claim.
In essence, the five-year agreement will
be used to develop a government system
to be in place for the eventual ‘Settlement
of the claim. ° ~ ‘s

‘The second item - is the possibility
Nisga’a Tribal Council executive member
Harry Nyce will run for the Social Credit
nomination in the North Coast riding.

It doesn’t matter if Mr. Nyce loses or
wins the nomination or indeed has the
blessing of the rest of the Nisga’a. His ef-
fort has value as a bargaining tool. The.
point is the Nisga’a patiently pursue any
angle to achieve what they want.

Jack of all trades

' What better place than in the

‘schools for condom dispensers
if, as some say, they fall into the
category of preventative health
care?

. For decades, we've taken ad-
vantage of schools as a con-

Through

Bifocals | ¥
by Claudette Sandeck!

¢

gregating point for our
.youngsters, the way ranchers
annually herd their cattle into
corrals for vaccinating, de-

educators of my childhood.
They were hired to teach math

transform our kids into canny
consumers, versed in

horning. I suspect more preven-
tative “health care happens in
schools than. in hospitals or
clinics.

“Before a child can begin
‘Kindergarten, he must show the
‘school proof he’s been vac-
cinated for measles. Once ad-
mitted to class, often a visiting
nurse checks his dental health
and shows him the proper way
to brush his teeth.

From his first day in ‘school,
teachers watch him for indica-
tion of vision problems, for
physical or psychological scars
of abuse, and for head lice.

““As- he grows older, he’s
observed for any ‘tendency
toward suicide as well. always,
‘regular classes deal with nutri-
tion and physical fitness,

“These. care | call. preventative
“health ‘care. = above the
waistline, :

- Now the ministry of educa:
tion has gone ‘a step further,
‘The ministry has worked out a
‘new protocol for special-needs
‘students. Some properly-trained

‘teachers will be-called upon to
‘undertake | some health pro- .
: cedures,; such as management of
seizures. and administering of ,
oxygen and medications:

. parents, and valets.

and other academic subjects,
stoke the furnace with coal, and
supervise planting of a single
maple seedling on Arbour Day,

During the intervening years,
the teacher's role has expanded
like yeast dough to fill every
untended cranny of child-
rearing.

We depend upon teachers
babysitting for parents who
work, monitoring fire drills, in-
structing in earthquake safety,
and street-proofing our children
against sexual perverts,

We bank. on: teachers
coaching sports teams, conduc:
ting club activities, and tutoring
crafts, Bands and sports teams
pray for teachers with fundrais-
ing abilities of a Billy Graham

- or Jim Bakker.

In the higher grades, we want
our counselors to be Dr. Ruths,
unblushingly informing our
teens about sexual awarenesss
and AIDS, topics many parents
are either too ignorant or too
bashful’ to broach with their
own offspring. deat ge

For students on field thips out

of town or overseas, teachers —

act as chaperons, surrogate

trust teachers: "tes

marketplace math, comfortable’
at computer keyboards, capable

of coping with the complexities .

of life in the 90s.

Never mind our own short -

tempers. We take it as a given
teachers will be long on ‘pa-
tience, time, and intuition,
forever available to our kids to
listen, commiserate, and
counsel, : ne

All that’s’ a tall order,
wait. We may.soon heap on

negotiating with hostage takers, .

dodging bullets, and looking
cool in camouflage fatigues.
No wonder most teachers |
aren’t against - condom
school

dispensers in
washrooms.

But

Ris is ir tapes!”
a you'lt HAVE To GET.
~~ ON NOW) WITHOUT MY:

CUTATREE....
GROWATREE....
— CUTATREE...
~ GROWATREE....
3 LITA yeeros

Education system
found in disrepair

VICTORIA — Canada is get-
ting a very bad return on its

investment in education, accor-

ding to a front-page story in
my local daily newspaper the
other day.

The story, datelined Edmon-
‘ton, credits the Economic
Council-of Canada -with the
-earth-shattering, discoyery, thats:
~ Canadian kids: either- ‘govrotten
teachers or. don’ t pay: attention’
_in school. ”

Whatever the callse; ‘the:
results are embarrassing:

- Canada's public expenditures

on education place it in second
spot among industrialized na-.
tions, but we're “‘not getting a
good economic return on its
investment in education,” says
a report prepared by the coun-
cil. .

Here are some of the distur-
bing facts listed by the
council’s report. Close to one-
fifth of the Canadian popula-
tion is functionally illiterate.
nearly 30 per cent of Canadian
students drop out without
finishing high schoct,

Canadian students fail to
rank above the middle level in
mathematics and science tests.
A “‘disturbingly high” propor-
tion of those taking trade and
yocalional programs don’t ap-
pear top benefit from their
education.

_ Graduates of trade and
vocational courses, the council
says, experience high

‘unemployment rates and low

average carnings and most of
them report that they don't use
the skills acquired in their
‘studies.

*~ The council concludes that
Canadians need belter educa-
tion because poorly educated
people are winding up in bad
jabs. And keep in mind that
we're talking about Canada,
not some ‘poor third- world
country,

“The job structure is becom-
ing polarized into good jobs,
-with high pay and relative
security, and bad jobs, with
low pay and little security,’*

_ according to council chairman
Judith Maxwell. ~

CHARMING ( compan iP

From the
Capital.

by Hubert Beyer

+

When 1 said much the. same .

thing about British Columbia's
education system, the
Honourable Tony Brummet
declared open season on me,
The minister, to put-it. mildly, |
was not amused by my sugges-

. tions that the province’s educa-

tion system could perhaps be

improved ever so slightly.
He even got sore‘at me for

saying we don’t spend enough

on making our kids.computer

literate. I still got the letters to.

‘the editors to show just how. .

mad he got. But lo and
behold, less than a year later, -
a task force on computer
literacy in B.C. schools said

exactly the same thing.

Nor am I the only one
critical of British Columbia’s

- education system. Cyril
Shelford, a commissioner with

the Forest Resources Commis-
sion, just got back to Victoria
from chairing a round of hear-
ings in northern British Col-
umbia, and he had a few
things to say about education,

Shelford told me that lack
of education and training of '
young people entering the
work force was one of the
complaints he’d been hearing
time and time again during the
hearings. _

“Even some professional:
foresters have been telling me
thay don’t have the training
they should have,"’ said

Shelford. he also supported the.
-council’s claim that graduates
of trade and vocational, col- _

leges don’t have the
background they need ‘to do
the jobs they've supposedly
been trained-for,.
“That's: ‘certainly. the case in
the hotel industry,’” said
Shelford, who has done exten-

" (GOOPNESS! With YoU Y
‘LOOK AT THAT | ANG

‘| AFTER 2 CENTURIES OF

HIM GRAGGING. ABOUT:

- has a right to expect ee

ideas birt they?l have to wait...
_ for another day and another
column.

al tad S007) )

ie Ae Tree

sive 2 consulting work for the”
B.C. Hotel; ‘and Restaurant’ a
Association, ‘“They just can’t”
get the kind of young people
they need,'’ he added. ws

. Well, I’m glad I'm not the.

* only potential target for Brum:

met’s or advanced education, :"’:
Minister Bruce Strachan’s  .....
scorn, It’s one thing to tell
Beyer that he’s all wet, it’s =.
something else altogether to ©.
say that to Shelford, a former’.
Socred cabinet minister, or to.
an August body such as the
economic council,
Examples of what the coun:
cil is talking about aren’t hard!
to find. How many kids do | vrs
you know who have at least a
rudimentary. knowledge of -
French after supposedly having
learned Canada’s other official
language in school. for several
years? | Ly
I’ve come across some bad
writing in my time, but what:!:
passes as english compositions’.
in some of our grade.12 classes
is scary. As for the high cost:
of education, take’a look at
your next municipal tax bill. -°

And that’s only part of the oo
total cost of education. the rest .

comes out of provincial cof-
fers. In the current budget
year, the-provincial govern-,
ment will be spending more.
than $4 billion to education
and training,

good results, not the horror
story related to us by the
Economic Council of Canada.
I should, of course, not lam-
basté: the system without offer:
ing some consiructive advice.:'.
And I don’t,-I haye.some good

AWS GIGANTIC i

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