At Home: Bilingual grads needed for government jobs
Canada’s job markets may not be booming, but bilingual grads have an advantage in at least one sector: the federal government. According to a parliamentary committee report, falling rates of bilingualism will create a shortage of federal employees.
As Canada’s largest employer, the federal government expects to hire ?between 12,000 and 15,000 new employees each year to replace retiring public servants,? according to the CBC.
That number is ?larger than General Motors? entire Canadian workforce in 2008.? As many as 6,000 of those federal jobs are designated bilingual, ?including all senior management positions.?
Even as the need for bilingual employees grows, the percentage of young adults who can speak both official languages has been falling for the past 15 years. The report attributes this decline to a lack of ?language competency requirements for admission or graduation,? requirements that have been dropped by post-secondary institutions.
Although the government cannot mandate changes to colleges and universities, the report does contain 11 recommendations, including teacher training, student mobility, and ?federal support for immersion programs.?
In Foreign News: Patent system dismantled in Venezuela
According to El Universal, the government of Venezuela is dismantling that country’s patent system, making patent information publicly available so that anyone will be able to ?make use of it.?
The ?technical information? contained in licensed patents will be posted on the Internet, on the website of the Autonomous Service for Intellectual Property (SAPI).
The official reasoning behind the move is that it will ?eliminate the exclusion created by the patent systems.? As President Hugo Chávez told listeners on a radio show, ?patents cannot be a restriction or a trap.? The change is intended to allow Venezuelan technicians to take existing developments and improve on them.
Others, however, believe that eliminating the patent system will put a chill on new research and development. One lawyer specializing in industrial property called the decision a ?coup d?état,? saying it violates constitutional rights. Another concern is that the decision will have a stifling effect on the economy, with those in manufacturing and development leaving the country in order to protect their investment in intellectual property.