Features
Retraining Would Boost Economy in Canada, Says Prof
Technology education benefits everyone
BY REBECCA KENDALL
Pumping money into retraining Canadians to perform high-skilled labour would greatly accelerate the growth of Canada's national economy, says Prof. Thanasis Stengos, Economics.
Stengos, along with colleagues at the University of Cyprus, examined 15 advanced industrialized countries and found a compelling relationship between the level of education of a nation's citizens and their access to advanced information and communication technologies. Technology is becoming more affordable for people and is becoming increasingly available all over the world, he says.
The group has previously studied the effects of education on a nation's economic growth and success, but they wondered how much the data were influenced by access to things like computer software, hardware components and communications devices such as phones and fax machines.
“Our results indicate that there are interesting relationships between information and communication technologies and productivity and between education and productivity,” Stengos says.
“Certain levels of education must be reached before it becomes a force in economic growth,” he says, adding that, in a global context, at least five years of education must be achieved before any difference is made. Each additional year of schooling a person has further adds to the economic growth of that person's country, he says.
Education level on its own is one thing, but the availability of advanced information technology and the ability of a population to know how to use it further adds to the speed of economic growth, says Stengos. “You need one for the other to work.”
Although data for Canada were incomplete and therefore not included directly in this study, there are still lessons to be gained here, he says.
“We have an educated population, but it's a general education as opposed to the level of education and skills associated with these new technologies. We import highly skilled people from other nations, but aren't producing as many computer-literate graduates who can work with these technologies as we should be.”
It's important to keep producing the appropriate level of education that goes along with these technologies, he says, noting that skills and technology are factors that drive one another.
“These technologies are driven and developed by people with advanced skills, and in turn, technology drives people to develop new skills.”
This cycle of development will in time lead to the creation of new jobs and higher wages for those producing new products, says Stengos. It should be noted, however, that this will take time and may initially cause a further economic division between those who choose to develop these skills and those who choose not to, he says.
“You could see a higher level of inequality between those who work in low-skilled jobs and those who work in high-skilled jobs. In the long term, however, as the economy grows, these inequalities should shrink.”
Governments need to help shape and produce these skills by pouring resources into training and re-educating their citizens to develop advanced technical knowledge and to work in higher-skilled professions, he says.
“Education opens up new possibilities and pulls people up. At the end of the day, we will all benefit.”