Governor announces new online workforce courses

Governor Terry McAuliffe announced Friday the launch of five work readiness online courses that will be free for the public.

The courses are based on five of 21 readiness courses identified by University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service as those needed by employees for career entry and advancement. The topics include Applied Mathematics, Reading for Information, Locating Information, Internet Use and Safety-Digital Citizenship and Understanding Health, Wellness and Safety.

The online courses will be available through SkillsOnline, WHRO's professional development and workforce training portal that offers almost 3,500 courses in 19 different industry categories. WHRO is a Virginia Beach-based public TV station.

WHRO plans to make the courses available for all Workforce Investment Boards, social services agencies, community colleges and employers in Virginia.

The workforce “modules” are partially funded by grants from the Hampton Roads’ Community Foundation and Corporation for Public Broadcasting through the American Graduate program. Additional funding is being sought from foundations and other private sources to produce the remaining courses and collateral materials.

“The work readiness modules are an example of the public-private partnership that is increasing access for Virginians to workforce training, will help employers put more Virginians to work, and will provide no-cost resources for educators and local government training providers,” Gov. Terry McAuliffe said in a statement.

Additionally, course content will be distributed through eMediaVa(SM), which WHRO operates through a contract with the Virginia Department of Education and serves more than 145,000 Virginia teachers in public, private and home schools across the state.