Douglas College leads the Essential Skills Workplace Services (ESWS) project

Douglas College is collaborating with TOWES and six other colleges in order to promote Essential Skills.

The Essential Skills Workplace Services (ESWS) will deliver Essential Skills interventions to the workplace, with a strong emphasis on working with employers to enhance the Essential Skills levels of their employees.

Along with its six partners—Nova Scotia Community College, Collège Lionel-Groulx, Fanshawe College, Bow Valley College, Conestoga College, SIAST, and the Ontario College Sector Committee, Douglas College will implement a service delivery model to integrate Essential Skills into the workplace.

This project, which intends to increase the Essential Skills levels of close to 900 employees, will involve 100 employers and 1,000 of their employees who will participate in Essential Skills awareness and capacity-building activities. The project intends to increase the Essential Skills levels of close to 900 employees.

Valerie Lockyer, Program Manager, ESWS, Douglas College, says the employers involved in the project already have experience with Essential Skills.

“This was purposely done in order to focus on seriously integrating Essential Skills into the Human Resources process for all employers involved,” says Lockyer.

The outcomes from this project are expected to lead to enhanced and sustained activities around Essential Skills in the seven participating colleges, as well as other community colleges.

Other outcomes for this project include:

• the application and integration in 100 workplaces across six provinces
• a significant increase in Essential Skills uptake by the business community
• an innovative national model of Essential Skills interventions developed for learning institutions to help employers address Essential Skills gaps and improve the skill levels of the employees
• a suite of cost-effective ES tools and best practices developed

The results of this project will be disseminated through national networks such as the Association of Canadian Community Colleges and industry-based organizations. Reliable evaluations will help determine the set of workplace Essential Skills interventions that yield the best return on investment.

“We are very excited about this project moving forward,” says Lockyer.