High School Ocean 11 Course Background

News release
Oceans 11 Course Offers Opportunities
Education and Culture (to July 1999)
January 14, 1998 - 12:10 PM

EDUCATION/CULTURE--Oceans 11 Course Offers Opportunities

A new high school course to be offered this fall will give students the chance to learn more about career opportunities in ocean-related areas, including aquaculture, fish harvesting, fisheries resource and coastal zone management. Linked with local community and workplace needs, the Oceans 11 course will be offered to Grade 11 students across the province.

Oceans 11 is the first in a number of new courses designed to give students more program choices while in high school, so they have more choices when they leave, said Education and Culture Minister Robbie Harrison. "Whether students choose to go directly to work, to college or university, or whether they choose to create their own opportunity through entrepreneurship, we have a responsibility to help all students succeed," said Mr. Harrison.

The Oceans 11 launch coincides with the United Nations declaration of 1998 as the International Year of the Oceans. Fisheries and Oceans Minister David Anderson today officially launched Canada's participation, saying oceans play an important role for all Canadians. "One objective is to make people more aware of the importance of the ocean and how it relates to their everyday lives," said the federal minister. "Our waters are a finite resource and every Canadian has a stake in protecting them."

The new curriculum is being developed through a partnership among the Department of Education and Culture, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada, and the Southwest Regional School Board. The course will be tested in several schools in the southwest board, beginning next month, and available for schools across the province in the fall.

Teachers and school boards from across the province are providing input, and partnerships are also being pursued with the provincial Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture and the Nova Scotia Community College in developing the curriculum.

Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Jim Barkhouse supports the initiative, saying: "I'm excited about this project and my department looks forward to being a full partner in its development as part of our commitment to preserving coastal communities."

Oceans 11 students will earn a full science credit on completing the course materials. Students will be required to complete four of the course's six units: two compulsory sections on oceanography and, based on school and community interest, two options from among aquaculture, fisheries resource management and sustainability, coastal zone management, and fisheries harvesting.