Educational Services

 

The first school in BC was started by the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Victoria in 1849, when James Douglas invited an Anglican minister to open a school where the children of company officers could be educated. Shortly afterwards, the Catholic church established a school for the children of Roman Catholic parents. As more settlers with families came to the colony, other schools were opened. Most of them were run by religious orders. Parents paid fees to send their children to these schools, but not all of them could afford the charges or the cost of textbooks and supplies.

In the mid-1860s, newspapers in Victoria and New Westminster helped spearhead a campaign for free, non-denominational schools. Amor de Cosmos, who later became premier of the province, led the campaign in Victoria, using his position as editor of the British Colonist to make his views known. The Common Schools Act was eventually passed by the legislature in 1865. It provided for free schooling and authorized the governor to appoint schoolmasters, a Superintendent and a General Board of Education. The governor was also given the power to appoint local school boards to serve in an advisory capacity. By 1867, there were two common schools in Victoria, and a number of other publicly funded schools were located in other parts of the colony.

After the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia joined to become one colony in 1866, the Act was repealed. However, the principle of publicly-funded (though not necessarily free) education was entrenched in new legislation, which set provincial support at $500 per year per teacher.

In the early days, many schools had one room and a single teacher who taught students of all ages basic reading, writing and arithmetic. The minimum requirement for opening a school was that there had to be at least eight students who would attend.

The province's first public high school, Victoria High, was built in 1879. However, students wishing to pursue post-secondary education had to leave BC in order to do so.

The need for a provincial university was recognized by legislators and an act to establish the University of British Columbia was passed in 1890. Plans for the new university ran into a roadblock when its senate couldn't agree on whether the institution should be located in Victoria or on the Mainland. They wouldn't be resurrected until nearly 20 years later.

Following the university stalemate, Vancouver College was opened in 1899 and Victoria College began teaching students in 1903. Both were affiliated with McGill University, offering first and second year programs to students who then traveled to Montreal to complete their degrees. A second University Act was eventually passed in 1908 and Point Grey in Vancouver was chosen as the location where the new university would be built two years later.

A hundred and forty years after the first school act was passed in BC, publicly funded, free and non-sectarian primary and secondary education is available to all children in the province. There are four publicly funded universities, including UBC, the University of Victoria (opened in 1963), Simon Fraser University (1965) and the University of Northern BC, which officially opened its doors in 1994. As well, a number of colleges–many of which came into being in the 1960s and 1970s–offer university transfer and other types of programs in most regions of the province. The Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design has been teaching fine arts students since 1925.

What's included in the education industry?

Teachers, university professors, librarians, theologians, archaeologists, secretaries, plumbers, janitors, driving instructors, hairstylists, cooks, ballet dancers and musicians. This sounds like a pretty diverse group, yet all of these people could be employed in the education industry.

Primary, secondary, and post-secondary institutions account for the bulk of the activities in this industry, but it also includes various types of less formal training provided by the private sector. Establishments in the industry include language and business schools; apprenticeship training facilities; computer, driving or flight training centres; facilities offering ski, music, dance, or acting lessons; barber, beauty and cosmetology schools; and various other types of training. (Day cares and nursery schools are not included in this industry; they're part of the health and social assistance industry).

What's happened since 1990?

About 5% of the province's GDP originates in the educational services industry, which employs 7% of the workforce. The industry's share of total employment has been increasing, rising from just under 6% to 7% during the period from 1990 to 2005. The industry's share of GDP is about the same now as it was in 1990. However, there have been some big swings in job growth and in the industry's share of total GDP during this period.

The education industry accounts for about 5% of the province's total GDP and a slightly higher share of its workforce

Employment growth since 1990

In the early 1990s, the number of jobs in education was increasing a lot faster than total employment, and this was also the case during the latter part of the decade. One reason for the faster-than-average job growth in this industry is that part-time employment has become more common than it used to be. The number of part-time workers in the industry more than doubled between 1990 and 2005.

Part-time employment in the industry has doubled since 1990

Why is an increase in part-time employment a factor that helps explain job growth? The reason is that a part-time and a full-time job both count as one job in the employment statistics. In an industry where there are a lot of part-time workers, or where part-time employment is growing faster than full-time jobs, employment could rise even if the demand for labour isn't increasing. The growth may simply reflect changing work arrangements.

For example, a teaching job that is shared by two part-time teachers counts as two jobs. If it was filled by a full-time worker, there would only be one employee counted. Based on the very strong growth in part-time employment that has occurred in education, it appears that this type of work arrangement is becoming more common. But part-time employment isn't the only reason for the strong job growth since 1990. Full-time employment in education increased 50% between 1990 and 2005, well above the 32% growth for all industries in BC.

What are some other factors that have contributed to the strong job growth in this industry? While total employment in the industry increased 64% between 1990 and 2005, the number of jobs at universities expanded even more, rising 67%. One reason for this was the opening of the University of Northern British Columbia in 1994, which boosted the demand for workers in post-secondary education.

Employment at primary and secondary schools rose rapidly during the early 1990s, a period when the province had the fastest-growing population in the country. This was also a period when there was less public concern about government spending and deficits, and funding for educational institutions may have been less restrained. Job growth at schools slowed in the mid-1990s, and, with the exception of 2005, has declined in every year since 2001.

A growing population usually means a growing need for schools and teachers, since people who migrate often bring families with them. During the early 1990s, a lot of people were coming here from other provinces as well as other parts of the world. There was an influx of immigrants from Hong Kong in the years leading up to 1997, as uncertainties about changes that might be implemented following the handover of the former British colony to China caused some residents to emigrate. Some of these emigrants have since returned home.

BC's dependence on immigrants as a source of population growth has likely kept the percentage of school-aged children and youth higher than it would otherwise be, since there is some evidence that immigrant families often have more children than those who are native-born.

The strongest job growth in this industry has occurred in education services that are usually provided by the private sector. The number of jobs in these industries has more than tripled since 1990. We can only speculate on the reasons why this has occurred, but it's likely that the proliferation of English language schools and similar types of businesses has played a role in this rapid growth. BC is a popular destination for visitors, especially from Asia, who come here for short periods to study English.

Tougher licencing requirements for new drivers may also have contributed to employment growth in this industry. It takes less time for young drivers who take lessons from professional instructors to obtain a full licence than for those who learn their road skills from a parent or family member, so there's some incentive to get formal training. There may be many other factors that have contributed to the growth in employment in this component of the industry since 1990.

The biggest employment gains have been in education services that are usually provided by the private sector

Baby boom, bust and echo

Like many other industries, education has undergone major changes during the last couple of decades. Did you know that at one time, teachers didn't have to pay into unemployment insurance because it was assumed that they would never be out of work? That's far from the case today. Having a teacher's certificate no longer means that you can find a job almost anywhere you want to go.

Some of this, at least, is related to the ageing of the population. You've probably heard people talk about the baby boom, which occurred from about 1945 to the mid-sixties. After the Second World War, when soldiers returned home to their families, the birth rate went up. Large families with four or more children were quite common. The population was relatively young, and it was growing fast.

During the 1970s, things started to change. People began to put off having children until they were older. Families with three or more children became much less common and the growth spurt in the population stalled. That period is called the baby bust.

More recently, we've seen increases in the birth rate–the so called “baby echo” as baby boomers have had children of their own. However, this echo effect isn't expected to last. The trend continues to be toward smaller families with fewer children. And baby boomers are growing older.  They've all reached middle age and many of them are now close to retirement or have already stopped working.

The baby boom, bust and echo, has had a big effect on the education industry. When the population was young and growing, and there were a lot of children, the need for teachers increased. New schools were built, more teachers were hired, and universities began to train more people to be teachers. Teaching seemed like a pretty safe career choice.

During the baby bust, the demand for teachers fell at the same time that the workforce of available teachers was expanding. That's one of the reasons why it was so hard for new teachers to find work. The baby echo has only partly reversed this effect.

What are the most common occupations?

Sixty percent of the people working in this industry have jobs in education-related occupations. Twenty-one percent are kindergarten or elementary school teachers. Another 15% teach at secondary schools, while 17% are college instructors or university professors. Two percent are counsellors.

The 15% of the industry's workforce that's employed in sales and service occupations mainly work as teacher's assistants, or in janitorial and related services. Ten percent of the people who work in this industry are in business, finance and administrative occupations. They're primarily secretaries, or administrative clerks and officers. Management positions include principals and other administrators. Musicians, singers, recreation program leaders, coaches, dancers and librarians are the main occupational groups in art, culture, recreation and sport.

Most of the workers in this industry are educators, mainly teachers and professors

The skills required in this industry have evolved over time. For example, the use of high-technology products in the classroom has changed the way that teachers prepare for lessons or present their material. The growing demand for people who can teach English as a second language has arisen partly as a result of increased immigration into the province from non-English speaking countries, but also in response to a growing number of people who travel to BC from Asia in order to take English language courses.

More inclusive policies mean that more students at schools and post-secondary institutions have special needs, physical or otherwise, that require more individualized attention from a teacher or teaching assistant.

How many people work in education, and how much do they earn?

The education services industry employed 146,100 British Columbians in 2005. Most of them worked at primary and secondary schools. Nineteen percent had jobs at universities, while 9% worked at other post-secondary institutions. Fifteen percent worked at other types of educational establishments. In 1990, these establishments accounted for just 8% of the total workforce in education.

Schools employ six out of every ten people working in this industry

Workers in the industry are comparatively well paid. Average earnings were $25.21 per hour in 2005, more than in any other service-sector industry except public administration. The average for all industries was nearly $6 lower, at $19.36.

Wages were highest at colleges and similar post-secondary institutions ($28 per hour). They averaged $26 an hour at elementary and secondary schools, $25 an hour at universities, and $19 an hour at other schools and educational support services.

Workers in education typically spent 32 hours a week on the job, less than the 36 hour average for the economy as a whole.

What are the characteristics of the workforce?

Thirty percent of the people working in this industry are employed part-time, meaning that they spend less than 30 hours a week at work. The average for all industries in BC is 20%.

The education industry remains predominantly female, with women making up 64% of the workforce in 2005. Their share of the total workforce is 47%.

People who work in this industry are less likely to find themselves unemployed than are other British Columbians. Between 1990 and 2005, the jobless rate in education averaged 3.7%, less than half the 8.4% average for the province as a whole.

Self-employment in this industry is becoming more common, accounting for 9% of the total number of jobs in 2005, up from under 5% in 1990. Virtually all of the self-employed people work in the private sector rather than at educational institutions. Nearly two-thirds of the people working for other types of schools and educational services are self-employed.

About half of the people with jobs in this industry are employed at mid-sized establishments, where there are between 20 and 99 employees. One in five works in a small establishment with fewer than 20 workers. At the other end of the spectrum, 15% of the workforce is employed at a large institution, where there are at least 500 people on staff.

Half of the jobs are in mid-sized institutions

Where are the jobs located?

Two out of three workers are located in Mainland/ Southwest

Two-thirds of the people working in this industry are located in the Lower Mainland, which is home to BC's two biggest public universities, a number of colleges and institutes, and 61% of the province's population.

Employment in other regions of the province is at, or slightly below, their share of the population. While the Lower Mainland draws students from all over the province, institutions in smaller areas have traditionally served a largely local population.

What's the outlook to 2014?

As long as people have children or want to learn new skills, there will be a demand for education services. Although that demand is not greatly affected by economic conditions, changes in the composition and size of the population over time can have a significant impact on the need for workers in this sector.

Employment and GDP in education is forecast to increase marginally faster than the number of jobs during the next few years, maintaining its share of GDP at about 5% and employment, at 7%.

The industry is expected to grow a little faster than the rest of the economy during the next few years

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[1] *Large year to year fluctuations in employment levels should be viewed with caution. Big drops or increases may be statistical in nature. They do not necessarily mean that there has been a significant change in employment. The long-run trend is a more useful indicator.