• A number of the educators we interviewed said that literacy issues among teenagers go largely undetected – hidden and undiagnosed. Even when it is detected, there isn’t much in the way of solutions. Alternative programs, where they exist, are kids’ last chance.

• One Alternative School principal described an increasingly large group of boys who are showing up at his school with serious literacy problems. An early intervention program will be started in the school system within a couple of years – but he says they need a program in place now for the middle grades.

• Several college ABE instructors lamented that the school system is not doing its job. They say it is graduating unskilled people because there is no accountability and teachers are told not to fail students.

For the First Nations Community…

“We need more programs for the aboriginal community that are accessible and stable.” – Educator during Consultation

• The people we spoke with during the consultation overwhelmingly affirmed that literacy is a huge issue for First Nations peoples and cited a number of factors that compromise the relevance of traditional paths to literacy and learning among native peoples:
  • isolated villages spread our along the coast or inland
  • a largely oral vs. printed tradition of learning, with less emphasis on reading
  • a negative history with regard to traditional educational delivery (eg. residential schools)
  • the lack of employment opportunities available to those who do upgrade their skills
  
  

• In some communities the “push out” rate for First Nations in grades K-9 was cited as 80%. We were told that only 11% of First Nations kids graduate.

• Links between literacy and unemployment (eg. 90%) are one consequence of the issue.

For the English-as-a-Second-Language Community…

• Throughout the consultation, we were told that literacy is a huge issue for new Canadians whose first language is not English.

• Reaching these people and drawing them forward for upgrading was described as an ongoing challenge because of cultural and language differences.

• According to several representatives of the former Ministry of Social Development and Economic Security (now the Ministry of Human Resources), many of the unemployed ESL clients they serve are not literate in their first language – and have even greater barriers to overcome.