Friday December 27, 2019 ~ LANGFORD
~ West Shore Voice News
The proposed new post-secondary campus in the west shore will be located in the ‘downtown area of Langford’, said Langford Mayor Stew Young on December 20. He says about three or four possible locations are being considered.
On December 11, Royal Roads University (RRU) announced the submission of their business case to the Ministry of Advanced Education, Skills and Training. Partners in the initiative are the University of Victoria and Camosun College, with strong input from the City of Langford and interaction with the School School District (SD62).
The new campus will aim to address the post-secondary and labour market demands of the west shore — primarily for residents and businesses in Langford, Colwood, and Sooke where Sooke School District 62 provides K-12 education to over 11,000 students. The target opening date would be September 2022.
About 700 or more students have graduated from Grade 12 each year in SD62 for the past six years. In June 2018 there were 764 grads, with 759 grads in June 2019, and in June 2020 the expected tally is 763, says SD62 Associate Superintendent Paul Block. Even if half of that count remained in the west shore for post-secondary each year it would significantly expand the potential learning opportunities for many young adults, reduce or eliminate away-from-home costs for families, and contribute to an increasingly robust trained local workforce for the west shore economy on Vancouver Island.
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This news was first published on page 3 in the December 20, 2019 print-PDF issue of West Shore Voice News
Pop-up university for a day hosted by Royal Roads University for SD62 students in Langford (November 2019)