Government Seeks Input on Strategic Adult Literacy Plan

As part of the work underway to develop a Strategic Adult Literacy Plan, the Honourable Joan Burke, Minister of Education, made available today a discussion paper which will help facilitate public input into the plan and ensure the diverse needs of the province�s various regions is reflected.

�The province has not had a comprehensive, strategic plan regarding adult literacy initiatives and programming for a number of years,� said Minister Burke. �Low literacy remains a concern and one government has committed to addressing. A new plan will challenge us to examine the programs we currently have in place, to ensure these programs are providing optimal success for adult learners and to make sure we are addressing their unique needs and circumstances, across all regions and communities of the province.�

As outlined in the discussion paper, the plan will respect community differences and the different forms of literacy programming such as family literacy, transitional employment training, workplace basic skills upgrading, Aboriginal programming and adult tutoring. While the plan will have a provincial focus, it will make specific recommendations to support the advancement of regional action plans. The new plan will also aim to improve numeracy skills as well as reading and writing. It will include detailed goals, actions and performance measures on an annual basis to 2013.

�Many of our initiatives, including the White Paper on Public Post-secondary Education, the Skills Task Force, the Healthy Aging Policy Framework and the Poverty Reduction Strategy have highlighted the importance of improved literacy skills,� said Minister Burke. �The Strategic Adult Literacy Plan will help to further strengthen the skills development of our province�s adults. This is extremely important to individual success, and to the overall success of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is important that people have opportunities to improve their daily living, help their children with homework or take full advantage of the anticipated jobs associated with the many large-scale development projects on our horizon.�

The discussion paper will gather input in key areas including:

• How existing programs are working and how they can better address current needs while remaining cost-effective;
• How to support workplace literacy;
• How to establish funding allocations to support regional needs;
• How to evaluate and assess program effectiveness;
• How to support the professional development needs of instructors; and,
• How to support older adults requiring or accessing literacy programs.

The Provincial Government has increased funding to support literacy-related initiatives and programming by just over $1.5 million since 2004, with an annual investment of $6.8 million. This funding includes support for adult literacy grants, the Comprehensive Arts and Science College Transition Program, Adult Basic Education scholarships and the delivery of Adult Basic Education at College of the North Atlantic.

�There is a lot of good work and programming taking place throughout our province to help people improve their literacy skills,� said Minister Burke. �I have had the opportunity to meet individuals who have grown tremendously through literacy training and, of course, through their own dedication and determination. We now have an opportunity to develop and implement a plan that will ultimately allow more people to achieve success and improve the literacy rates here in Newfoundland and Labrador.�

Input on the development of the strategic plan will be sought from key literacy stakeholders. Individual comments can be submitted by visiting www.gov.nl.ca/edu/salp, by phone at 1-888-670-1133 or 729-7668 (local), by fax to 709-729-3590, or by mail:

Strategic Adult Literacy Plan
Division of Adult Learning and Literacy
Department of Education,
4th Floor, West Block, Confederation Building
PO Box 8700
St. John�s, NL
A1B 4J6

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Media contact:
Jacquelyn Howard
Director of Communications
Department of Education
709-729-0048, 689-2624
jacquelynhoward@gov.nl.ca

2008 06 16                         10:15 a.m.