VANIER COLLEGE
Vanier College signs a partnership with Kativik Ilisarniliriniq, the school board of Nunavik to offer Integrated Support Technician ACS training

The Vanier College Continuing Education Department is pleased to announce a partnership with Kativik Ilisarniliriniq, the school board of Nunavik (Quebec), offering an Attestation of Collegial Studies (ACS) for Integrated Support Technician. The partnership is funded and supported by the Quebec Ministry of Higher Education and forms part of the Plan d'action nordique de la Société du Plan Nord (PAN).

As the result of on-site research and having been developed over the past several years by Vanier College's Special Education Techniques Department, the 450-hour ACS has been tailored to the needs of the Kativik Ilisarniliriniq. Specifically, the program will be offered in the context of a recognition of prior learning approach to participants already working in Nunavik schools as Behaviour Technicians or Special Education Technicians at their workplace. The pedagogical approach will employ active learning, including role-play, visual demonstrations and hands-on creation of materials. Most importantly, the learning material will incorporate references to the Northern context and the use of Inuktitut language to ensure ownership of concepts and strengthen the sense of identity among participants. The ACS training received by participants will be credited by the Ministry of Education as a certification recognized for the position of Integrated Support Technicians.

The Integrated Support Technician ACS will not only meet the needs of Nunavik, but also those of other Indigenous and remote communities where access to post-secondary education is limited. Typically, organizations recruiting Integrated Support Technician ACS graduates are schools, daycares, family houses, youth protection services, CLSCs, hospitals and health services as well as rehabilitation centres and group homes.

Quotes:

"We at Continuing Education are excited about this new partnership and the potential that it offers to change lives in remote Inuit communities in Quebec. This is the kind of work that has lasting and enduring positive effects on society, and we look forward to graduating many Integrated Support Technicians in Nunavik over the years to come," stated Gregory De Luca, Director, Continuing Education and Community Services.

"Although the partnership around the Integrated Support Technician ACS is new, it is the result of a relationship with Vanier College that has developed over more than six years with the Kativik Ilisarniliriniq Complementary Services department. I am confident that the ACS will meet the needs of our workforce. The program is rooted in the recognition of employees' prior learning and competencies previously acquired on the job. This is very positive. We hope that training participants will feel both validated by this approach and motivated by the perspective of broadening their knowledge, strengthening their existing skills set and acquiring new competencies," declared Mamadou Falilou Diop, Director of Adult Education and Vocational Training at Kativik Ilisarniliriniq.