The Mining Association of British Columbia’s education program was selected by the Conference Board of Canada as this year’s winner of the Royal Bank Partners in Education award, the province’s top prize for excellence in business-education partnerships.
The program was launched a decade ago when the industry learned that mining information available in schools was as much as 30 years out of date. The program was designed by teachers at the primary, intermediate and secondary levels after they toured mines and met with geologists and engineers to obtain accurate and relevant information.
Under the program, each teacher is provided with an instructional binder plus and host of materials, such as rock and mineral samples, videos, slides, books, maps and posters.
Older students are encouraged to participate in case studies by taking on the roles of interested stakeholders in the mine permitting process. They are also asked to consider various sides of mine development, from exploration to decommissioning. In addition, the program encompasses new technology and environmental issues and requires that students make field trips to operating mines.
The program is in such high demand that there are not enough instructional kits to supply schools. This has prompted MABC to launch a campaign to raise $2.2 million over the next five years in order to provide an additional 8,000 teachers with the necessary classroom resources.
A proponent of the MABC program is the province’s ministry of energy and mines, which recently provided $50,000 in funding.
Donations can be made to the MABC Education Program Charitable Organization, 840 West Hastings St., Vancouver, B.C. V6B 1C8.
Be the first to comment on "MABC cited for school program"