Topic proposed by Michael Shaughnessy
Literacy is tied to poverty
how can we address this in Soo and Algoma region:
Facts:
low literacy leads to high percentages of people on
*social assistance
*prison population Connection in cycle low literacy=low employment= low self esteem=low productivty=poor decisions/choices:addictions/crime.
*homeless
How can we identify those prone to persistent low literacy and assist them to acquire higher literacy skills...
How can we provide more opportunities for students who have different learning styles so that students don't become dead end streamed?
On line learning developments for literacy.
Even if low literacy skills people still need life skills learning
Community based programming used to be designed as one on one learning. Now it's based on small groups so we can get more contact hours which means more funding. In the future it appears that it will be performance-based funding--who will determine the performance base the literacy programs or the ministry? People with learning disabilities need one on one learning but because of a lack of funding for that type of training there is less of it.
Programs: AlphaPlus
MTCU (Ministry of Training colleges and Universities)
Federal government funding for literacy was going to on line learning, but there have been cuts under Harper and lack of support from the provincial government.
Now time limits are being considered in literacy programs where student have to leave if it takes too long for them to develop expected literacy levels.
Provincial funding for literacy programs have been frozen for over ten years
Ontario Works (welfare) got cut, but ODSP (Ontario disability support program) frozen for ten years under conservatives, liberals have added a cola (2.5%) but not made up for the previous cuts.
If you don't have enough money to live, you have to look for handouts, and what does that do to your self esteem.
Problem: people with lower literacy skills will take longer to achieve college degrees which may never lead to better jobs. It seems efforts are being made to improve literacy for younger demographic and abandoning adults with low literacy levels.
How can we help individuals with low literacy focus on career options that they might choose once literacy skills improve? Help them learn to read. It builds their self esteem and gives them options once they can read to make their own choices.
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Life long learning is essential: welfare funding for single applicants:
Was is now
$620 $520
(Harris P/C)
520 535 (McGuinty Lib. C.O.L.A.)
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Corporations, especially foreign owned corporations benefit from domestic investment in education of workforce. Do they have an obligation to invest in helping shore up the low end, the provetry prone those challenged by literacy.
literacy is everybody's problem. We all need to make efforts to help identify those who may be struggling and encourage our employers to develop programs in the workplace and community to help.
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| | | I believe that in a just and caring country poverty is everyone’s business. The government should take a five-pronged attack to end poverty once and for all. The five issues are education, literacy, family upbringing, crime and the social net. There should be long term, medium term and short term programs because some changes will naturally take more time than others to come into effect. It would be like a house of cards. You can’t do one without doing all of the five points or the house of cards would topple over and you would be right back where you started from.
Long term planning should be education because I do believe education is the best way to put a big dent into poverty. This is why I believe university and college should be free for everyone. I think your grades should be the only reason you can’t go to university. In the college system everyone should have the opportunity to go to college if they like to go, and there should be support for one-to-one tutoring for people who are struggling with college. Also there should be an education tax on corporations to pay for university and college because corporations get the biggest benefits from us being trained. Education will always be the best way to end poverty. When you come from a poor family the barriers seem to be overwhelming. Even when you are smart enough to make it in university or college you would never put up that kind of money so you have a big debt hanging over your head when $20 is like $200 for you. Medium term planning should include literacy. We need a lot more support from both levels of government for adult literacy programs and workplace literacy programs right across the country. Statistics show that 42% of Canadian adults struggle with literacy. We also need to do more for family literacy programs because literacy and education begin at home.
Medium term planning: you do need to do something about family upbringing. There are good programs to help out parents who need a little bit more help with there families. These should receive more funding and be promoted to let people know they exist. Then have more universal daycare programs so parents can go to work if they choose to.
Medium term planning: Stop crimes Have more rehabilitative programs for offenders both inside and outside institutions. Have a lot more programs for the youth of Canadian so they would not be out there doing crimes, and find more part time jobs for the young people.
Short term planning: Do something about welfare and disability support programs. Having the minimum wage at $10.00 sounds good, but when you are on the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) after working for 25 hours you begin making half of what you are getting paid. The ODSP should not take away the money till you get above the poverty line. If you are on welfare or ODSP you should be able to keep nice things in your residence. For example if you inherit something from a family member you should be allowed to keep it. It’s degrading to have it taken away. You should be allowed to save money and provide nice things for your family. You should not be penalized for trying to improve yourself. When you feel good about yourself you would be more willing to look for a job. And give more money to people on welfare so they can have a decent life. | |
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For people who feel that literacy and this program are important, please use this letter (put your own name and signature on it) and send to the Minister of Education, your local MPP, and the Premier’s office.
Here is the letter which you can personalize for your own use or use as it is:
Please reconsider your decision to stop special project funding to Alpha Route.
As a learner, I use Alpha Route courses as a first-step in developing work place skills, which is the focus of the Employment Ontario mandate.
For northern learners, Alpha Route offers courses that are otherwise unavailable; therefore, these learners do not have the same benefits as those in more populated areas.
By denying adult literacy and up grading students access to Alpha Route courses, you are also denying them the opportunities enjoyed by most post-secondary students in taking on-line courses.
Practitioners, too, are now without access to best practices opportunities without Alpha Route on line courses. They can no longer develop specific courses to address their students’ needs. Learners are no longer getting AlphaRoute certificates that they can show to potential employers.
I hope you consider the request of this letter and re-instate the special funding for on-line Alpha Route courses. I look forward hearing your reply.
Yours truly,
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Don't ignore literacy challenges
As I look around at the state of adult literacy programs in Ontario, I am stunned and amazed at the condition we find ourselves in.
The Ontario government has said over and over again that we are heading for a skilled labour shortage in the province.
So can the government afford to continue to ignore people with literacy challenges?
The results of the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS), published by Statistics Canada, tell us that 22 per cent of adult Canadians have serious difficulty with reading, writing and math, and another 26 per cent do not have the literacy skills we all need to participate fully in today's information-based society.
In Ontario, 1.2 million adults do not have basic literacy skills and another 1.4 million are not able to read enough to carry out daily tasks or to find and keep a job.
For the past 21 years the government of Ontario has funded literacy programs for adults who aim to become more independent, as well as for those who seek employment or further education. Now, under Employment Ontario, the focus is on training and employment.
Employment Ontario's job is to get people back to work as fast as they can. This means learners will not always have the time to improve their literacy skills and programs will get lost in the shuffle.
Are we now going to forget about the programs at the lower levels? It takes people at these levels a lot longer to make measurable gains. Also what about retired persons who have worked all their lives building Ontario and now ask for something back -- to be able to read well enough for their grandchildren?
Or what about people who have physical challenges? Are we now going to forget about them and keep them from full participation in society?
I was one of the 1.4 million people in Ontario who couldn't read. I could count on one hand the number of words I could read, even though I had my Grade 12 diploma.
It was a big dark secret that I did not want anyone to find out. I was very good at hiding the fact that I couldn't read.
With this inability to read there were a lot of day-to-day things that I couldn't do, including taking a bus or going to see a movie at a multiplex theatre.
I would get directions from my friends, but I would end up making excuses for not showing up -- all of this resulting from not being able to read street signs. I became very introverted because of my inability to read.
When I heard about an organization that teaches adults to improve their reading skills, even though I thought it would be a waste of time, I went to see about the program.
Looking back, I'm so happy I was wrong about the reading program. Because of it, I became more independent and extroverted.
All the literacy community wants from the government is to ensure that the resources, supports, training and tools are in place, and then we can light the fire within us.
Because I can read now, I can see a whole new world out there that I never knew existed. The way literacy is going in Ontario there might not be many people who have the same opportunity I did to learn how to read.
I see programs operating in the red over and over again. How long can this continue before it reaches its breaking point?
As we move swiftly through the 21st century, I would like to see the day when you read about illiteracy only in history books.
Michael Shaughnessy, Young Street
Adult Literacy information
-Learning a Living: First Results of the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survery (www.statcan.ca)
-Literacy scores, human capital and growth across fourteen OECD countries (www.statcan.ca)
-Human capital and Canadian Provincial Standards of Living (www.statcan.ca) (forthcoming)
-The Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey: New Frameworks for Assessment (www.statcan.ca)
-IALS and ALL data (www.statcan.ca)
-Information: T. Scott Murray dataangle@mac.com
