The following summarizes what we learned from the literacy practitioners’ and learners’ visioning conference, our two telephone surveys, and our community consultations.

Literacy Needs are Not Always Being Met…

“Literacy has been an issue in the community for over 20 years and has never been addressed” – Government Representative during Consultation

• Even in communities where a number of service providers are in place, and even where there are good working relationships between them, people repeatedly voiced the concern that the need for literacy interventions is not being met. The need is greater than the community’s capacity to meet it.

• Even in workplaces that have had upgrading programs, the workers with really low literacy levels are not being reached.

Regional Coordination and Networking…

• There are 11 Regional Literacy Coordinators throughout the province who receive costshared funding from the National Literacy Secretariat and the former Ministry of Advanced Education, Training, and Technology (now the Ministry of Advanced Education) to provide 10 hours a week of regional literacy coordination.

• Where Regional Literacy Coordinators were known to the people we met with – primarily educators, community development workers, and government representatives – they received glowing praise for their work. They were described as being helpful in connecting different programs; in boosting morale and sharing information among various providers; and in coordinating adult tutor programs.

• However, frequently, the people we interviewed who are not associated with education or community development activity had never heard of their Regional Literacy Coordinator. This was particularly true of the business and labour representatives we met with.

• Unfortunately, given that Regional Literacy Coordinators are funded to work on such a parttime basis, that they can only scratch the surface of what might be done. From their perspective, they are not mandated or equipped to undertake networking outside the education and community development arenas – and the expectation that they might forge partnerships with industry around literacy is unrealistic.