The Avon Maitland District School Board’s Centre for Employment & Learning is getting ready to launch a new PSW program.
In a release, the AMDSB says they will launch a new free PSW certification program, with "on-the-job training in a co-op format." Interested participants will avoid the regular $1,500 registration fee, get paid up to $5,115 during co-ops, and no high school diploma is required to sign up. However, credits received can also count towards a high school diploma if the applicant hasn't achieved one yet.
The program runs from February 28th to December 16th, 2022, and includes a combination of online live and in person classes.
CEL Principal, Kendra Brohman says the program they're offering is a full certification program for a PSW with most of the cost removed.
“Whether, I think, you are at a college or at a school board, the registration fee would be, I'm going to guess somewhere between twelve hundred dollars and two thousand dollars to be in the course, you know your uniform, your supplies that you need, text books, those kinds of things. So the government is waving that fee.”
Brohman says the length of the course is 660 hours, but they've decided to make it a part time course, extended over a longer period of time, in recognition that people who are interested in doing something like this.
“We're recognizing that probably the people that are wanting to do something like this here versus maybe going to college are people with other jobs that it would be a challenge for them to leave. So we're going on a two days a week plus five hours of independent work, so that extends the length.”
The program is available to anyone interested in pursuing a career as a PSW and includes the following components: ● Three Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) credits (theory, 330 hours) ● Three OSSD credits (co-op, 330 hours) ○ One OSSD credit - supervised clinical (110 hours incorporated into the 3 theory credit timeline) ○ Two OSSD credits - community placement (220 hours completed after) ● On the job training which includes a placement in a long-term care facility as well as a community placement in a group home, adult day program, community health agency, respite care facility or an assisted living facility.
Program participants benefit from the following incentives: ● No registration fee ($1,500) ● Available pay during co-op component (up to $5,115) ● With permission, can use a current work placement for up to 110 hours of the 330 hours of co-op ● No high school diploma required to register for, or to complete, this program ● Credits received can also count towards a high school diploma if not yet achieved
Full details are posted at thecentreforemploymentandlearning.ca/psw.
“We are pleased to be able to offer this course at no cost to individuals interested in the PSW career path. Students with or without a high school diploma are eligible so we believe this flexibility will suit a wide variety of individuals,” Brohman adds.
**With files from Bob Montgomery**
