Letters GEOLOGY LACKING IN SCHOOLS

William Stanley’s and Bob Holmes’s article “Crisis in Education” (September issue) should be subtitled, “Where will the students come from?” Geology is not offered in most high schools in Ontario. The general level of awareness of the mining industry and potential employment opportunities by high school students are low and will crash to dismal levels in the near future. The authors state at the end of their article that the worst is over. They are wrong] The worst is yet to come. The selection of students to university is based on the Ontario Academic Courses (oac). Geology is not offered as an oac. There are very few students who will choose to take a course, such as geology, that has no value towards entrance into the university system.

The Northern Miner’s Sept 21 issue carried a front page story on the shortage of skilled miners and technologists. This article and the one on the crisis in education mention several innovative steps taken within the industry and educational institutions to alleviate the situation. McMaster University has implemented an engineering and management program, introduced half-year introductory courses to attract and increase the exposure of geology to a larger and more diverse student body, raised its entrance requirements and offered joint degree programs with other sciences. The end result of these innovative steps at McMaster is that our graduates are finding employment in research institutes and government agencies. Also, we are placing our graduates in senior positions in the mining industry. A golden example of this is Barbara Kowalski, a recent McMaster graduate who wrote an article on the Metalore gold discovery in the July, 1987, issue of your magazine. Another graduate from McMaster is Rick Kusmirski, mentioned in The Northern Miner’s Report from Calgary, Oct 5, 1987.

To maintain a steady supply of qualified emloyees in the mining, geology and earth science industry, these innovative steps must be continued. What’s more, the mining industry must lobby the educational ministries of government to designate geology as an Ontario Academic Course. Ken MacDonald, Dept. of Geology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont.