Collaboration Across Sectors Tops Adult Education Summit Agenda

Participants at an adult education summit are calling for more collaboration between business, government and community groups in order to improve adult literacy and numeracy levels in the province.

About 150 representatives of business, labour, industry, government and community-based learning organizations gathered in Halifax on Thursday, Jan. 19, to look at ways to help more adult Nova Scotians upgrade their literacy and life skills.

"We heard from participants that they want more opportunity to partner with other sectors to develop and promote adult education initiatives," said Education Minister Jamie Muir. "By broadening our networks, we broaden our options for solutions when it comes to improving adult literacy and day-to-day skills."

There are nearly 6,500 students enrolled in adult learning and workplace education programs in Nova Scotia each year. The province invests more than $7 million a year in programs and initiatives that are delivered though community-based literacy organizations, colleges, school boards and businesses.

"We need to focus on strengthening partnerships and bringing groups from all sectors together to create a seamless system," said Cyril Meagher, president, Allendale Electronics Limited. "We also need to send the message out to industry that it has an investment in building the literacy and numeracy skills of its employees. Businesses need to create a culture of learning where employees don't feel embarrassed or threatened to say they need help."

"We need to ask industry and other sectors to help. Industry players need to know what roles we can play in partnership to contribute to solutions," said Jim Morrison, human resources manager, Michelin North America (Canada) Inc. "We should also identify clear outcomes expected from our adult learning efforts if we want business to get more involved. What gets measured gets managed."

More detailed findings of the summit will be included in a report that will be distributed to all summit participants. These findings will influence government policies and initiatives, as well as new adult literacy and workplace education programs involving the labour, industry, community and business sectors.

"This summit has far exceeded my expectations and I hope we have more meetings like this in future," said Douglas Myers, executive director, PLA (Prior Learning Assessment) Centre. "If we work together, Nova Scotia has a chance to significantly strengthen the impact and effectiveness of its literacy programs by providing a breadth of community-based support that will make adult learning not only life long but life wide."

The summary report of summit findings will be available in upcoming weeks at www.ednet.ns.ca. . More information about the International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey is available at the Statistics Canada website at www.statcan.ca/english/dai-quo .