Have you heard of Earn While You Learn? The Alamo Colleges District have partnered with the city of San Antonio to support thousands across the city who have lost their jobs due to COVID-19.
Since many San Antonians have lost their jobs due to the pandemic, the city has allocated $70 million for training those who lost their jobs for more stable careers. Dr. Mike Flores, Alamo Colleges District Chancellor, explains that “Somebody could receive training and be a certified nurses aide in as little as 5 months,”
Earn While You Learn allows college students to be paid $450 per week while they are given an opportunity to learn a new skill or trade. Receiving a stipend and a skill will hopefully benefit the students, as well as their peers and family members.
The $70 million will help 10,000 people become certified in fields such as healthcare, information technology, manufacturing, welding, or construction. This list of jobs are considered to be COVID-19 resilient jobs.
Thankfully, the Alamo Colleges are also taking health and safety concerns into consideration and plan to schedule courses online. Dr. Flores says that “Some of them may be hybrid, some of it will be face to face and so we’ll use public health protocols with PPE and social distancing,”
Dr. Flores also stated that Alamo Colleges and the city of San Antonio will assist anyone who needs a computer or internet connection to pursue their education through Earn While You Learn.
The Alamo Colleges plan to start course training July.
Dr. Flores expounds, “They can look at receiving a certification in as little as two weeks and all the way up to nine months. Somebody could take advantage of this opportunity to be able to earn the stipend and also learn a new skill and be competitive in the economy,”
“My parents always taught me to invest in my education, honestly eases tensions at home, because a lot of the classmates that I do know, they have at least one or two kids and not only is it them that were furloughed or laid off, it’s both of them,” says student Erika Davila.
