Introduction and Background

Secondary School Apprenticeship (SSA) is one of three Career Programs (CPs) offered to secondary school students throughout the province of B.C. One unique design feature of the SSA program is the Secondary School Apprenticeship scholarship, a $1,000 scholarship funded jointly by the provincial and federal governments as part of the Strategic Initiatives (SI) Agreement. The SSA scholarship SI was implemented in 1994 as one of many innovations to test new approaches to labour market adjustment in collaboration with the provinces. As of the 1997/98 fiscal year, Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) had contributed a cumulative total of $171,482 towards this initiative. The Province of B.C. had contributed a total of $164,750.

The intent of the scholarship is to recognize achievement, to induce students to consider the trades and to encourage SSA students to complete high school and strive for high grades. Scholarship funding is available to any student who successfully completes an approved Secondary School Apprenticeship Program, meets all graduation requirements with a minimum C+ average and continues his/her apprenticeship for at least six months after graduation.

The objective of the SSA program is to provide students with an easier transition from school to the trades and to encourage more students to consider the trades as a viable career path. Students enrolled in SSA complete 480 hours of paid, workplace-based training with approved employers or a joint board who indenture them. In 1997/98, there were 397 students enrolled in the SSA program in B.C.

Project Purpose and Approach

The purpose of this evaluation was to gather information and opinions of scholarship winners from the 1995-1997 school years with respect to their SSA program, their current employment activities as well as the usefulness and effectiveness of the scholarship opportunity. As such, key objectives of the project included an assessment of the following:

• to what extent did respondents feel that the scholarship was a valuable incentive and to what extent did knowing of the SSA scholarship have positive effects on SSA winners;
• what did scholarship winners use their money for and was the scholarship amount sufficient to assist them in their career plans?

A telephone survey of approximately 87 Secondary School Apprenticeship (SSA) Scholarship recipients from the 1995-1997 school years was conducted in August, 1998. This project was one component of a larger evaluation of Career Programs offered to B.C.’s secondary school students.

Key Findings

SSA scholarship winners were highly satisfied with their SSA experience. The vast majority (89.6%) of the 87 scholarship winners surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that they were satisfied with their program. In addition, virtually all respondents (96.6%) felt SSA should be continued and that they have or would recommend the program to others.

SSA scholarship winners received various benefits through their SSA program. Over eight in ten (85.0%) survey respondents reported that their SSA program helped them to map out their future educational plans and that SSA helped them to strengthen their career choice. In addition, 65.5% of SSA scholarship winners indicated that SSA helped them to be a better student and over half (range, 52.9% to 58.6%) felt that – as a result of their SSA program – their self-esteem improved, their grades generally improved and their high school courses became more relevant.

SSA scholarship winners felt the scholarship opportunity was valuable and positively influenced their study and work habits. Virtually all (97.7%) SSA scholarship winners surveyed reported that the scholarship was a valuable incentive for students and over half (range 56.3% - 57.5%) reported that knowledge of the scholarship opportunity positively impacted their work and study habits either to some or to a great extent.

SSA scholarship winners have experienced positive employment outcomes. The vast majority of scholarship winners (83.9%) indicated that they were active as apprentices at the time of the interview, while approximately one in ten (11.5%) were not active apprentices, but were working full-time. Only 2.4% of respondents were not working or attending school at the time of the interview.

In addition, 70.2% scholarship winners who were employed at the time of the interview were with the same employer as when they were in SSA. Finally, 85.1% of all respondents indicated that their career or occupational choice had not changed since they were in the program.

Key Conclusions

The scholarship opportunity is a valuable incentive for SSA students and results in various positive benefits. Analysis of the information collected from the survey suggests that knowledge of the scholarship opportunity has various positive influences on students, including their school grades, their study habits and their work habits, their interest in becoming an apprentice and their decision to continue their apprenticeship. Virtually all scholarship winners felt that that the scholarship was a valuable incentive.

The scholarship award is sufficient and is useful for students to purchase materials needed for their apprenticeship. In general, scholarship winners are using their award to purchase materials, books or equipment needed for work (44.4%) or school (33.3%). The amount of the scholarship award was also reported by the vast majority of scholarship winners (80.5%) to be sufficient to assist them in their career plans.

back | table of contents | next