A 6-3 vote by the Vancouver School Board Monday night means more high school students will have the training to work in health care.
As it stands, two students per year in the district are able to receive duel credit while they work as senior care aides.
The motion tabled by Trustee Lisa Dominato called for that number to rise.
“Our staff have been working with VCC (Vancouver Community College) to expand that to full seats, but not until September 2019. My objective with this motion though is to think bigger and longer term, to see us have more than four seats.”
The decision is getting high praise from Mike Klassen, vice-president of the BC Care Providers Association.
“It’s a really great opportunity for us to kind of address a crisis that we’re seeing now across the province in the fact that we don’t have enough people to deliver the care that our seniors need.”
He says the training could also lead to a career in nursing or health-care administration.