Education/training | Making Connections | Personal Advancement | Self-employment | Career Options

Career Planning

Pathway to possibilities

Krista Hill isn't embarrassed about dropping out of school after Grade 10. The 25-year-old, who works as a temp to support herself and her four-year-old daughter, as well as studying for her high- school equivalency diploma, is matter of fact about her situation.

DAVID CHILTON -- Special to the Toronto Sun

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"It's only embarrassing if you're not doing anything about it," she says, remarking on her lack of formal education.

Charles Williams, who turns 19 in July, is equally forthright. "I had some trouble when I was younger," he admits, recalling how he spent time at an alternative school as well as a high school in Mississauga before moving on to Vancouver and then returning to Toronto.

Hill's and Williams' respective turnarounds came through the support of PTP Adult Learning and Employment Programs. The non-profit organization has a pair of Toronto offices, one in the west end, the other in the east end, that see clients from all age groups and many different parts of the world.

UPGRADING

Barbara McFater, executive director of PTP, says the core of what her organization provides is upgrading, from those who are barely literate -- even in languages besides English -- to those preparing for college. "It's hard looking for a job even if you're well educated," she says. "Most of the people here do have skills, it's (a question of) what are they."

PTP began as Preparatory Training Programs in the early 1990s, with an emphasis on literacy and the stated goal of improving the re-employment prospects of workers laid off from manufacturing jobs. Back then, most of the people the organization helped were on what was Unemployment Insurance; now McFater says about 90% of her clients are receiving some sort of social assistance.

Most of them are referred to PTP by their caseworkers, she says, and function at the Grade 8 to 10 level, meaning they can navigate their way around a daily newspaper. Everyone who attends PTP gets a plan tailored to their individual circumstances, whether they need greater literacy, academic upgrading, preparation for employment or a combination of all three.

In Hill's case, it was academic upgrading;Williams needed preparation for employment.

For the last three months Hill has worked on her high-school equivalency diploma and expects to complete her studies in another nine months. She takes her courses at PTP, which, in partnership with Seneca College, provides the teaching and the texts.

"Once you finish the PTP course you can go to any college in Ontario," says Hill, who has her heart set on a career as a child and youth worker.

Williams is on a different path than Hill. In January he enrolled in the plumbing pre-apprenticeship program at George Brown College and hopes to land a full-time apprentice position once he finishes his pre-apprentice studies this month.

PLUMBING PRE-APPRENTICE

"I'm a hands-on learner," he says. "I'm a type of person who likes to learn how things work."

The plumbing pre-apprentice program at George Brown seems a popular choice for PTP clients. McFater says the college took 23 of her clients, Williams included, at the start of the year out of 31 who were interested.

Both Hill and Williams seem to have the confidence to thrive in their chosen careers. But it's not just all about work. Hill says she's learned social skills, professionalism and the self-discipline necessary to study. And Williams, in a shout-out to others who are where he used to be, says, "There are so many opportunities out there, they have no idea."