Over the past month, Self Advocate Net and Community Living BC have been inviting feedback from staff, self advocates, service providers and volunteer Community Councils across the province regarding the $100,000 Scholarship fund that was established with the BC Government and Service Employees’ Union (BCGEU) and CLBC last year as part of their collective bargaining agreement.
Over 160 people responded with feedback to four questions that will help shape the Scholarship Fund. Here are the results:
1. Over what period of time should the CLBC scholarships be awarded? (choose one)
- 5 years @ $20,000/year 42%
- 10 years @ $10,000/year 22%
- 2 years @ $50,000/year 14%
- term of the current collective agreement 9%
- 1 year @ $50,000 in spring and $50,000 in fall 7%
- Other (please specify) 7%
2. What should be the maximum award under the CLBC scholarship? (choose one)
- $5,000/person 31%
- $2,000/person 24%
- There should be no maximum 17%
- $3,000/person 13%
- $1,000/person 13%
- Less than $1,000/person 2%
3. Should scholarships be distributed evenly by three regions (Interior/North, Island/Coastal, Fraser)?
- Yes 72%
- No 28%
4. What should scholarship funding be used for? (choose three)
- skills training related to securing employment opportunities 85%
- any training courses being offered by accredited BC institutions 64%
- indirect costs of accessing postsecondary education and training 52%
- community recreation activities that promote quality of life and new skills 38%
- personal capacity building 21%
- arts, culture and creative development 20%
- Other (please specify) 13%
- English as a second language courses 7%
The CLBC/BCGEU Project Committee will review the survey results in the coming weeks. More details on the fund and application will be announced soon.
