Government and Education

Are We Really Surprised?

Last week, Alberta’s Auditor General, Merwan Saher announced, 2.7 billion of tax payer’s money had been spent on a failed attempt at lowering class sizes.

Mr. Saher stated, “Albertans, and particularly parents, should be disappointed in that they have not had a full explanation of whether or not this investment of their money… made a difference.”

Flag on the Play!!

Seriously? Should we be disappointed?

Outraged might be a better choice of words.

Mr. Saher said, in his latest report, “the Education Department has not effectively overseen and directed the program.” Are we surprised a government department did not lay out process, procedure and accountability steps?

Until there is true accountability in government, this type of scenario will continue to play out. This is not to say, some school boards were not successful in lowering their class sizes, but unfortunately they are few in number.

If governments simply stopped “stupid spending” and lived within financial means, like the rest of us, we would have more efficient systems.

Land of the Free, Home of the Beaver – Literacy Levels in Canada, Why Should We Care?

Lani Donaldson Government and Education

Logic would tell us that there is something dreadfully wrong when almost half of the nation does not meet the minimum literacy level. However, the problem goes deeper than one might think. We know that being illiterate can effect job prospects, but consider your daily routine and how often you need to read just to get by. To get an idea, try the simple exercise of keeping track of how many times you use your reading skills in a day; it will give you an idea of just what a necessity being literate is and the impact it would have if you could not.

So what? As long as illiteracy does not cost me money!

When you understand that our literacy levels play a huge role in whether or not our ‘True North’ remains ‘Strong and Free’ you may feel a slight pang of concern. Our entire democratic society depends on an educated, informed electorate.

What are the real costs?

To be perfectly honest it is hard to find a problem in today’s society that is not linked to literacy levels. Here are just a few:

Economics: An educated work force is a must to compete in a global marketplace.
Poverty: There is a direct link between literacy and poverty. Solve the literacy issues and you will go a long way in solving the poverty issues.
Crime: 65% of Canadian Prisoners struggle with literacy skills. Coincidence? I think not!
Consumer behaviour: Activity in the marketplace. Imagine being low tech in a high tech market. If one cannot read, one cannot actively participate and progress in the retail world.
Health: There is a direct correlation between low literacy and unhealthy habits. Simple things we take for granted like understanding directions on a medicine bottle or being unable to understand the medical dangers of certain habits. Imagine being unable to meet the health needs of yourself and your children.
Democracy: Land of the free and home of the beaver may be in trouble.

The entire concept of democracy depends on the participation of the society’s adults at a level of literacy that is well above the basic. One must be able to not only understand the issues and their potential impact but to be able to evaluate and weight the pros and cons of them without being unduly influenced by them until a decision has been made. In short, literacy is essential to a democratic culture.

Consider making a positive, significant difference to the world and/or to your local literacy initiatives by donating your time, cash or talents!

Lani Donaldson

Land of the Free, Home of the Beaver Part 2

Lani Donaldson Government and Education

The Economics of Literacy

To be perfectly honest it is hard to find a problem in today’s society that is not linked to literacy levels.
We live in extraordinary times and extraordinary times require extraordinary measures from all citizens of this country. Currently in Canada we have 46% of our Canadian adult population who struggle, at best, with basic text. To put that into perspective, 9 million adults woke up this morning without the literacy skills to get them through their day. (Source: ABC Literacy Canada)

Some will argue that it is Canada’s immigration numbers that are causing the illiteracy levels but this is simply not so. In fact, if you take out the immigration numbers, the percentages remain primarily the same.

Canada’s Silent Crisis

Clearly this is Canada’s silent crisis. As the economy continues to go global we have to step things up in order to compete on the world stage. As the baby boomers retire we have generation X which is smaller in numbers and cannot hope to fill the void left by the baby boomers even if they wanted to and clearly; they don’t want to. Next up, generation Y and well……
“A recent survey amongst HR professionals takes it even further: the survey reported that overall professionalism, written and verbal communication skills, analytical skills and business knowledge are lagging in workers entering the workforce.” Source: Melanie Joy Douglas, Monster.ca
Canada will risk losing out on many of the benefits of future global economic growth unless it commits to a significant action to raise adult core skills including language, literacy and numeracy levels.

Think it is Simply a Lower Wage Earner Problem?

According to the Canadian Council of Learning 20% of university graduates struggle to meet the level three requirements on the Canadian literacy scales.
Anyone concerned yet?

Whose Problem is it Anyway?

Some may argue that it is the governments’ problem and that they and they alone should fix it. For the most part it is Provincial governments that are responsible for education policies and practices. Each province sets its own structure for education. The exception is of course First Nations who have the Federal Government as their over seers’. However, decades of government funding of literacy programs have garnered few tangible results.

Formal education programs run by provincial governments primarily cover off what is known as formal education (Kindergarten to grade twelve or thirteen). Government subsidized programs for new Canadians are generally funded by the federal government.

Where Does That Leave Us?

Lost productivity caused by poor literacy skills costs Canadian businesses four billion dollars every year. A Stats Can study reports that a 1% gain in the average literacy/numeracy skill level in Canada would create a permanent increase of $18.4 billion per year, in the country’s GDP.
What if corporate Canada took it upon them to look after literacy skills of their workers? What if corporate Canada could pull literacy experts on board for short periods of time and solve the problem within their employee base in a matter of weeks instead of years?

Now there is an idea worth kicking around the boardroom.