Meeting Weighs Role of Higher Education in NELA
About two hundred people assembled Monday morning at the University of Louisiana at Monroe's Library Conference Center to listen to Commissioner Purcell speak on the future of education and employment in Northeast Louisiana.
Employers and educators in the audience offered some suggestions. Their focus was on overcoming poverty and unemployment through education.
Commissioner Purcell says the meeting was a good first step for the region in discovering its educational needs.
“To some extent, it’s what this area wants to be when it grows up. What is that transition going to look like, what kind of credentials will be needed – and then making sure that our institutions can provide those, both at the certificate/associate level, and at the Bachelor – all the way up to doctorate.”
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| Katz |
Representative Kay Katz was in attendance. She says that staying in school is the only solution for young people hoping to land a job.
“Well the solutions are to bring more business in here, put more people to work, keep out young people in school. Our dropout rates are too high. And we have too many of our young people from the seventh to the ninth grade walking away from education.”
Commissioner Purcell agrees with Katz. He wants to scale back high drop-out rates, reminding people that there are scholarships available to further their education.
For KEDM, I’m John Hughes.
Air Date:
Mon, 09/19/2011