RALEIGH: Gov. Roy Cooper joined students, educators, corporate leaders and elected officials today to encourage real-world, work-based learning experiences for North Carolina students.
“Education is essential to preparing students to enter the workforce, and it helps our economy thrive,” Gov. Cooper said at the North Carolina Business Committee for Education’s annual meeting. “I encourage North Carolina’s business leaders to help ensure that students across the state have opportunities to experience work-based learning.”
During the meeting, students from across the state demonstrated examples of work-based learning that take place within their schools. The meeting also included a student panel, presentations on innovative work-based learning initiatives, and remarks from Department of Administration Secretary Machelle Sanders.
Gov. Cooper emphasized the need to give all North Carolinians opportunities to learn the skills needed to land good jobs, and the connection between education and job recruitment.
“When I’m talking to CEOs who are considering expanding or relocating jobs to North Carolina, they want to know if we’ve got the educated workforce that can do the jobs they want to create,” Gov. Cooper said. “We want to make sure we have the workforce needed to meet those hiring demands.
The meeting took place during Manufacturing Week, and the governor specifically pointed to the jobs in advanced manufacturing that require specialized training and can be difficult for employers to fill.
NCBCE initiatives focus on ensuring North Carolina students are workforce ready. Programs like Students@Work and Teachers@Work provide students with job-shadowing and teachers with externship opportunities. NCBCE’s announcement of the Governor’s Educator Discovery Award and the 2018 emPowering STEM conference will also bring industry-relevant knowledge, skills, and experiences into professional development programs for teachers and career counselors.
About the North Carolina Business Committee for Education
Founded by Governor Jim Hunt in 1983, NCBCE is a business-led, education non-profit that operates out of the Office of the Governor. For more than 30 years, NCBCE has provided a critical link between North Carolina business leaders and the state’s education decision makers, helping to create connections between education curricula and the overall work readiness of citizens across the state.