A tour of Centre Pontiac and the socio-professional integration training program, offered in Fort-Coulonge
A tour of Centre Pontiac and the socio-professional integration training program, offered in Fort-Coulonge
CHIP 101.9 visited the Service de l’Éducation des Adultes, at Centre Pontiac in Fort-Coulonge this week.
On top of allowing adults to obtain certifications, courses in their high school diploma or to have prior courses recognized, Centre Pontiac also offers different services such as the Formation en intégration socio-professionnelle (or socio-professional integration training)(FIS). This program is offered to adults with special needs or in need of support.
“We still have a good clientele of FIS students, these are students who have special needs, and they come here to acquire the necessary skills to enter the job market,” says Daniel Larche, the Assistant Director of the Service de l’Éducation des adultes et de la formation professionnelle, at the Center de services scolaire des Hauts-Bois-de-l’Outaouais. “Some students have the skills to work in private companies, and others in companies or community organizations. What we do is help them through a number of different workshops, either internally or externally through partnership with community organizations. This field work is extremely important as it will allow them to gain the necessary experience eventually be able to find a job.”
This program leans heavily on partnerships with community organizations such as the Comptoir St-Pierre.
“The Comptoir St-Pierre has been an integral part of the FIS program since the beginning. We have here a thrift store that was made possible through the collaboration with the Comptoir St-Pierre. That is to say, the Comptoir St-Pierre collects donations from the community and bring the clothes to us here. And here we are equipped to wash, dry, sort and return the clothes to Comptoir St-Pierre for sale,” Larche says. “We are also partnered with the CISSSO and with the CJE Pontiac who come to visit us regularly, they are very present to support us in this activity.”
Daniel Larche is hoping to be able to increase the the number of partnerships the FIS program has in the future. He also mentioned that there were still places available for other participants.
The full report in French from CHIP 101.9’s tour of the Centre Pontiac is available here.
