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"A Family Tradition for 128 Years" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, November 14, 1995 - 13 Teachers oppose end of fifth year From Page 1 cutting the fifth year will mean cutting curriculum, and the optional courses that allow students to ex- plore their interests and possible careers, she said. "Compressing means youre going to be squeez- ing out something that's already there," said Ms Jermey, adding that the onus will be on students to determine their career course early in high school, and take the appro- priate courses. " This is going to reduce the options that our stu- dents have," she said. "That really worries me. "There are many stu- dents who don't know ex- actly what they will do with the rest of their lives, or don't want to get there so quickly." She said it's obvious the school system has to pro- vide young people with skills and knowledge to prepare them for careers, but some thought has tobe given to life enrichment as well. But John O'Toole, Dur- ham East's Progressive Conservative MPP, argues more emphasis has to be placed on career choices as schools in Onta- rio strive to operate more efficiently with less mon- ey. It's been estimated savings of $350 million an- nually could be realized by chopping the fifth year of high school here. "It's nice to have read Tolstoy, but it's not neces- sary to get a job," the MPP said last week. Mr. O'Toole argues that what the Tories propose is a compression of the high school experience, not merely a lopping off of an optional year at the end. He said the government aims to make high school a more career-oriented ex- perience, with more of an emphasis on partnerships with business and indus- try, and co-op work experi- ences for kids seeking ca- reer choices. He agrees that does mean kids will be forced to make decisions about ca- reer choices early on, but doesn't consider that a bad thing at all. The Port Perry Star A Family Tradition in Port Perry and area for 125 years "I think there's a whole new focus," he said. "This 18 really what we'd call a career education policy... | think the government is moving in the right direc- tion in becoming competi- tive with the rest of Cana- da, and the rest of North America. "It's one less year of schooling, but it's one more year of income earn- ing." Weighing the pros and cons of the issue is Bobbie Drew, Scugog's trustee on the Durham Board of Edu- cation. She recognizes the savings that will be real- ized by a board that's un- der pressure from both government and ratepay- ers to cut costs, but, like Ms Jermey, has concerns over the options that may be eliminated for stu- dents. "There are some plus- es," she said. "Certainly it will be a money-saver in the province." In Durham, where sala- ries account for 75 to 80 per cent of the board's an- nual multi-million dollar budget, teaching positions would no doubt be elimi- nated, said Mrs. Drew. It's a measure which would help the board deal with shrinking transfer pay- ments from the province, and increasing pressure from taxpayers to hold the line on costs, and cut. "If (the province) 1s go- ing to cut down on funds, this is the type of thing they have to do," she said. "There isn't any more fat; if we're going to have to cut, it's going to have to be programs. That's when high school could become less of a life- enriching experience, and more of a preparatory stage for kids setting to embark quickly on ca- reers, said Mrs. Drew. "They're going to have to know what they need to pursue the field they want to go into. "It's not altogether a surprise this is happen- ing," Mrs. Drew said of the government's announced intention to target the fifth year. 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