Educational Services in Prince Edward Island - Essay Example

Service Sectors The sector which is selected for this project is the services sector of Canada. Services sector is the one which is formed by the companies that generate their revenues by providing the intangible services or products to the customers. The service sector of the Canada includes transportation, information, finance and insurance, real estate, rental and leasing, educational services, health care and social services, whole sale trade, retail trade and tourism. (Government of Canada, 2012). The service sector of the Canada is broad and it employees around three quarter of the Canadian people. It accounts around 78% of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product). The largest employer amongst all the sectors is the retail sector of Canada, then health care and the education are the two largest service sectors of Canada and both are operated and fall under the concern of the Canadian government. Then are the business services that employee a little percentage of people. Business services include financial services, the communication industry and real estate services. Other than these there is a tourism industry focusing on increasing the tourism and tourists, entertainment industry which works for meeting both the domestic and foreign demands and the high tech industry. (Internation Monetary Fund (IMF), 2012) Amongst all the sub sectors of the services sector, ‘educational services’ is selected for this paper. The educational sector of the Canada plays an important role in building the knowledge skills and capabilities of the Canadian labor. Educational Services (Definitions) According to the NAICS (61) educational services in the Canada comprises of the establishments that provide the Canadian economy with the training and instructions in the wide variety of the subjects. All the instructions and trainings to the seekers are provided by the specialized establishments that are the schools, colleges, universities and further training centers. These establishments can be privately owned that are either operated for profits or non profits or they might be public owned and operated establishments. These establishments along with the instructions and trainings offer food and the accommodation services to their students. Educational services to the students are provided by the teachers. Teachers, tell, explain, supervise, demonstrate and direct learning of their students. The instructions are communicated to the students through diverse settings that include the educational institutions, television, work place and home through the correspondence. Further, it could be adapted by making it relevant to the needs of the students, for example sign language is used for the students that have hearing impairments as it replaces the verbal language. All the industries in the educational services sector follow these similar processes, visibly the hiring and recruitment of the instructors with the relevant subject expertise and teaching abilities. The establishments as well include the beauty and barber schools, recreational and sports institutes, consulting and the educational testing institutes, libraries, elementary and the secondary schools. (U.S. Census Bureau , 2011) Further according to NAICS (611), educational services in the Canada comprises of the establishments that provide the Canadian economy with the training and instructions in the wide variety of the subjects. All the instructions and trainings to the seekers are provided by the specialized establishments that are the schools, colleges, universities and further training centers. The subsector is organized and arranged according to the level and type of the educational services that are provided. The elementary schools, the secondary schools, community colleges provide the recognized formal type and level of education which is then designated by the name of diplomas, associate degrees and the degrees. The other remaining industry groups of the educational sector are not formally defined and are based on the type and level of instructions and trainings provided. The establishments have to be highly specialized that offer the instructions and trainings in the limited subject matter, for example in only one type of the soft ware or the ski matters. The trainings and instructions that are required for the teachers within the sub sectors depend on the type of the industry and it varies. (Government of Canada, 2012) NAICS (6111) states, elementary schools are engaged in providing academic courses that are comprised of the preparatory education including education from kindergarten to grade 12. (Government of Canada, 2013) NAICS (6112) states, community colleges engage in providing the academic and technical courses along with granting the students with associate degrees, certificates and the diplomas that are below the university level. The admission to the community college requires a high school degree or the equivalent academic trainings. (Government of Canada, 2012) NAICS (6113) states, universities are the establishments which are engaged in providing the students’ academic or technical courses at the bachelor or graduate levels. The admission in the university requires a high school diploma or the equal general academic training for baccalaureate programs or the baccalaureate degree. (Government of Canada, 2012) NAICS (6114) describes that the business schools are the ones that are involved in providing the courses related to office procedure, secretarial or stenographic skills which include the training in all the computer related fields. (Government of Canada, 2012) Trade and technical schools according to the NAICS (6115) are the ones that are involved in providing vocational and the technical training in the variety of technical trades and subjects. This leads to the non academic certificates. The schools on vocational correspondence are also included in it. (Government of Canada, 2012) The schools that provide instruction and training on the other fields such as athletics, supports, fine arts, exam preparation etc. fall under the category of other schools according to NAICS (6116). Then the schools that provide non instructional trainings which support educational services are the educational support schools according to the NAICS (6117). (Government of Canada, 2012) History of Last Ten Years (PEI) Prince Edward Island is the smallest province of the Canada based on its size and population. The educational institutions that are the major institutes in Prince Edward Island are University of Prince Edward Island, Maritime Christian College, Atlantic Veterinary College, Immanuel Christian School and Holland College. Other than that there are ten primary schools, fifty four elementary schools and six schools that combine the both of them. (Department of Education and Early Child Hood Development, 2012) Following are the different figures explaining the economic history: Figure 1: (P.E.I. Statistics Bureau, 2013) The above figure explains about the school enrollment at the schools in the Prince Edwards Island. The schools enrollments in the kindergarten in 2006 and 2007 were none and it remained constant till 2010. In the 2011, schools got the admissions of 1416 students in the kindergarten. It then increased a little in 2012 but then decreased in 2013. In the elementary grade (1-6) the enrollments in the school were 9590 which is the maximum in the history of the province. After 2006, the number started to decrease and kept on decreasing till 2010. In 2011, the number of students (8976) increased a little as compared to the number of students in 2010 (8799) but after that year it again started decreasing and till 2013 showed a continuous decrease. The school enrollment in the secondary (grade 7 to 12) as well was maximum in the 2006 (21,562). After that there was a continuous decline in the number of enrollments till the year 2013 and in 2013 it was the minimum (10,208). Over the enrollment of students for grades 1 to 12 had been a maximum number in 2006 and it shows a negative change across the moving time and the number of enrollments got continuously decreased and was at minimum in 2013. The growth percentage of educational sector as far as the school enrollment is concerned is continuously negative rather than being positive. Figure 2: (P.E.I. Statistics Bureau, 2013) This figure number 2 explains that the number of student enrollment in the fulltime college course has increased highly as compared to the previous years. In part time it showed a negative variation in between 2010 to 2011 but then it increased in 2012. In the adult education the number of enrollments in full time were at maximum in 2011 but showed a very huge decline in 2012. For the part time the case its opposite, there was a decline in enrollments in 2011 but then the number increased in 2012. Coming to the continuing education, the focus of people has increased on it and more and more people are getting enrolled as years are passing by. Figure 3: (P.E.I. Statistics Bureau, 2013) According to this figure, the number of enrollments in the University of Prince Edward Island had shown a positive growth and increase in the number of enrollments of the students. The number of students in 2006 was 3334 but it increased to 3885 in 2013. Although it is a very little increase but it as well depends upon the capacity of the institute and its policies. In the part time the enrollment of students has decreased continuously throughout the years. As similar to the full time, the enrollments in the summer courses at university have increased along the years. In the Veterinary Medicine there is a very little variation during all the years. In the Masters of Science program the number of enrollments was maximum in 2010 but it decreased in 2011 (60) and was minimum as compared to the other years in 2013 (44). In the Ph.D. department the number of students getting enrolled had increased throughout the years and was maximum as compared to other years in 2013 (63). In the other Master Degree Programs the number of students getting admission as well showed a positive change. This analysis provides with an insight that the number of enrollments in the schools is less but more and more people in the Prince Edward Island are seeking for the higher education as compared to the previous years’ making its university and college more prosperous financially. Past One Year Analyzing all the figures above, it is clear that the economic conditions for the schools are not good as the number of students get enrolled is continuously decreasing year by year. The number of the students had decreased in 2013. For the college and universities the case is opposite. Economic conditions for both the institutes are good as more people are moving towards the higher education and it is visible that the number of students getting enrolled in university and college had increased in 2013 as compared to the 2012 in majority of the departments. Economic Issues There are many economic issues faced by this sector. Firstly, this sector is facing the decrease in the enrollment of the students at elementary and secondary schools. Although the number of students in university and college is increasing but it is far less as compared to the number of students enrolled in schools. If the number of enrollments in schools will continue to decrease then gradually it would result in the decreased high school graduates and university degree holders creating financial issues for the schools, colleges, universities and people (students and teachers). The major reason for this is the high rate of unemployment which is 11.3 percent (2013) in PEI which is still the highest in Canada. Further the wage rate and the per capita income for the islanders is lowest aswell, so the personal income becomes lower than the national average. Workers hourly rate in PEI is $18.62 (2012) which is the lowest in Canada, similarly the personal and family income in PEI is lowest as well compared to the other families living there. (Prince Edward Island, 2014) GDP Growth Figure 4: (Government of Canada, 2013) Educational Services: The figure number 4 presents the GDP of all the industry sectors of the Canada. From 2007 t0 2012 the GDP of educational services has been increased from $78,093 to $83,144 showing a positive increase of 2% in compound annual growth rate from the year 2007 to 2012. If comparing 2012 with the previous year 2011, the change in the GDP growth rate occurred by positive 1.3%. Overall Service Sector: Between the years 2007 and 2012, the GDP for all the Canadian industries increased from $1466.8 billion to $1553.0 billion showing a positive 1% increase in compound annual growth rate. The annual GDP for the year 2012 showed a positive change of 2.6% in 2011 to 1.8% in 2012. Overall Contributions of Education Sector Overall this sector provides the economy with the instructions and trainings through which people can build their knowledge and skills and could make their life better. Not only this but being one of the largest service sector in Canada, this sector provides jobs and employment opportunities to the large number of people in the province Prince Edward Island. Finally it makes its contribution in the GDP of the country. Economic Outlook for the Next Year The economic outlook by looking at the previous years’ analysis is that the educational sector will improve if unemployment will decrease and monetary conditions of people will improve in the province because these two are the biggest barriers. Other than that overall, the sector would show a positive change and positive increase in the enrollments of higher education and GDP growth rate. References Department of Education and Early Child Hood Development. (2012, June 1). Retrieved March 12, 2014, from http://www.gov.pe.ca/eecd/index.php3?number=news&dept=&newsnumber=8407&lang=E Government of Canada. (2013, December 18). Canadian Industry Statistics. Retrieved March 12, 2014, from https://www.ic.gc.ca/app/scr/sbms/sbb/cis/gdp.html?code=11-91&lang=eng#vla2b Government of Canada. (2013, December 18). Industry Canada. Retrieved March 12, 2014, from https://www.ic.gc.ca/app/scr/sbms/sbb/cis/definition.html?code=6111 Government of Canada. (2012, Januray 4). Service Sector. Retrieved 12 March, 2014, from Canada.gc.ca: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/si-is.nsf/eng/home Government of Canada. (2012, June 14). Statistics Canada. Retrieved March 2014, 2014, from Canada.gc.ca: http://www23.statcan.gc.ca:81/imdb/p3VD.pl?Function=getVDDetail&db=imdb&dis=2&adm=8&TVD=118464&CVD=118466&CPV=611&CST=01012012&MLV=5&CLV=2&CHVD=118467&D=D Internation Monetary Fund (IMF). (2012). World Economic Outlook (WEO). WORLD ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL SURVEYS. P.E.I. Statistics Bureau. (2013). Province of Prince Edward Island Thirty-Ninth Annual Statistical Review 2012. P.E.I. Statistics Bureau, Department of Finance, Energy and Municipal Affairs. Prince Edward Island. (2014). Retrieved March 12, 2014, from Historica Foundation Canada: http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/en/article/prince-edward-island/ U.S. Census Bureau . (2011, July 13). 1997 Economic Census: Educational Services. Retrieved March 12, 2014, from United States Census Bureau: https://www.census.gov/epcd/www/97EC61.HTM Read More