The National Science Foundation has awarded the The Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA) an $884,000 grant to train the state’s technical high school students for high-skill, high-wage careers in manufacturing.
The grant, known as the “Pipeline from the Technical High Schools to the College of Technology,” is aimed at recruiting and retaining students in manufacturing, and helping them to attain the academic and employability skills needed to succeed in post-secondary education or employment after high school.
According to Lauren Kaufman, CBIA vice president of education and job training and executive director of the association’s Education Foundation, today's manufacturers require a more sophisticated skill level, and students have not always received the type of training that the industry needs.
Kaufman added that strong emphasis will be put on math, science and language skills so that students will not have to take remedial training before entering the workforce or taking courses in college.
The grant will also provide educators with work-based learning experiences to keep them current with industry practices. The program will include student and teacher internships, job shadowing, company visits, math labs, employability skills workshops, teacher professional development workshops and apprenticeship programs.