With the first week of classes in the books, so to speak, the Regional Campus Manager at Red River College Polytechnic: Steinbach Campus says as excited as the students are to be back in class, local businesses owners will be just as pleased.  

Mary-Ann Shukla says, classes began August 28, with each of the courses filled up.

There are 20 students taking part in the Early Childhood Educator Workplace program and Shukla notes employees with E.C.E. skills are in high demand right now. She says they are accommodating their courses according to the needs and wants of local businesses.    

"Daycares are telling us, that in order to free up their students to attend a workplace program, they (students) couldn’t attend all on the same day. So, while we have 20 students, they are spread out over two sections. They still study the same material, taking it at the same pace, just in a different way.” 

Shukla also notes their Business Administration classes are also full, with 25 first year Business Admin students and 25 second year Business Admin students. 

“Employers should be really happy with the next batch of students ready to be hired in April.” 

She continues, “We are here for the businesses. We are here to serve a need, and we’re here to make sure that the programs that we offer and the way that we offer them, makes sense for those companies that we work with. We consider them partners in our education. And that’s why we open up our doors and say, “If there’s a business out there that would like to be a guest speaker, or provide some perspective, our students always enjoy having companies come in and talk to them. I may be able to tell them what they need to study and why it’s important for them to attend and why they material is important, but when you hear it from a business, an employer, it just resonates that much stronger.”  

Shukla says that getting direction from local employers is not unique to the Steinbach Campus of Red River College Polytechnic,   

“We all do it, which is awesome. So, if you’re a business owner and you want to get involved and you want to contribute, any of our regional campuses would be happy to hear from you.” 

And in turn, she notes, Red River College will provide courses where students can learn in an environment that is suitable to the individual needs, whether it’s online or in-person and face-to-face. Shukla says their graduates never have a problem finding placements in the workplace, “companies are always looking for people.”  

She notes RRC Polytech did add a Business, Accounting and Management program. “Which again, it’s a unique program that was designed specifically based on what the employers were asking for. With classes learning Simply Accounting, Quick Books, your computer based-classes, your communications, your marketing. So, as soon as they graduate from the Business, Accounting and Management program, they come out and they’re work-ready. And when we say they are work ready, we mean, they are ready to do their jobs, but we do give them a 3-week practicum at the end of that, just to make sure they are solid.” 

And then there’s the Health Care Aid certificate. “Students have no problem finding employment upon graduation, in fact we could use a lot more applicants to fill the community's need for workers. It is not uncommon to have facilities calling us to hire.” 

Shukla notes that though Covid was a very tough time for the community and its members, “RRC made significant investments during that time to upgrade and renew equipment that now allows us to do blended learning. We needed to be flexible, we needed to have options for our students because not every person’s schedule is going to be the same, but their interest in studying is still the same.”

 

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