Volume 8, Number 2 - September 2002

Adjusting our Vision of
Literacy and Learning in BC

By Stacey Huget, Special Projects Consultant, Literacy BC

It’s been more than a decade since 1990 was declared the International Year of Literacy and since our own Provincial Literacy Advisory Committee (PLAC) tabled recommendations to the Government of BC for strengthening literacy programs and strategies in the province.

In the interim, much has been accomplished. Changes in government policies have been implemented. Funding has been increased. New programs have been initiated. And people with literacy challenges have reached out for learning opportunities.

Still, the 1994 International Adult Literacy Survey and more recent studies have raised questions about how much has concretely been achieved in the literacy field. Issues around awareness, program activities, delivery strategies, policy directions, leadership, and sustainability – and how best to address them – continue to challenge us.

During 2000 and 2001, in an effort to gain traction on some of these issues and questions, Literacy BC engaged some 675 people from more than 40 communities throughout BC in an in-depth consultation. Using independent consultants and a series of telephone surveys, focus groups, conference workshops, and in-person interviews, the process involved:

Inside:

...Literacy BC AGM
...Research
...International Adult
   Learners Week
...PGI
...literacy.ca
...Learners in ACTION