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PSS co-op program downscaled
The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc not only on regular classes but also the Cooperative Education Program of the Public School System, according to Brandon Nicholas, who is the coordinator of the program.
Nicholas, who was last Tuesday’s guest speaker at the Rotary Club of Saipan’s meeting at the Hyatt Regency Saipan Ballroom, said that maintaining student engagement with the program has been a challenge since the height of the pandemic last year and this year.
This is because many pre-pandemic features of the program—such as field trips, a job fair exclusive to the students, and the job trainings themselves—had to be downscaled.
However, despite the challenges, Nicholas said that 150 students from Saipan, Tinian, and Rota participated in Cooperative Training last year.
As PSS has opted to go with blended learning for its high schools to begin the 2021-2022 school year, Nicholas said he and a team has been working on further developing the program’s online curriculum and simulations. While there may not be a job fair for the students in the current semester, if the situation improves Nicholas said there might be a job fair for the next program cycle next semester.
The Cooperative Education Program, an elective class available in all of the CNMI’s high schools, points students toward careers they would be interested in pursuing, preparing the future generation of workers, and in the long-term addressing the CNMI’s current labor shortage within the private sector.
The program runs for the duration of a PSS semester, and is fully federally funded through a grant that is made available by the U.S. Department of Education. The program comprises two parts: “Cooperative Education,” and “Cooperative Training.”
Cooperative Education is when students attend classes focused on job placement techniques, career exploration, financial literacy, and résumé drafting and personal development.
The Cooperative Training portion of the program requires students to work for 60 hours per month for three months.
