HUMA Committee Report
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CHAPTER 2 — TIME FOR LEADERSHIP
Recommendation 1
The Committee recommends that the Minister of Human Resources Development Canada meet with provincial/territorial ministers of education and labour market ministers to develop a pan-Canadian accord on literacy and numeracy skills development. Key elements of this accord should identify provinces and territories as having primary responsibility for education and labour market training, establish joint funding levels and funding duration, determine the means of delivery, set goals, identify the need for flexibility in establishing literacy priorities, and establish methods for evaluating outcomes. If a pan-Canadian accord is not possible, the Government of Canada should negotiate bilateral literacy accords with all interested provincial and territorial governments. [Note: The reference to a pan-Canadian accord is intended to mean that the federal government should try to reach unanimous agreement with the provinces and territories to address this nation’s serious low literacy skills problem. If unanimous agreement is not possible, the Committee encourages the federal government to work with individual provinces and territories to achieve the same results. In either case, since this issue falls within the constitutional domain of the provinces and territories, an agreement is required to formalize federal support.]
Recommendation 2
| • | The federal government formulate a literacy policy applicable to all federal departments and agencies, establish clear program objectives and goals, and conduct a government-wide inventory and review of literacy-specific programs to ensure that program objectives and outcomes are being achieved; |
| • | The federal government assess all government programs and services to ensure that the government’s literacy policy and goals are being met (i.e., literacy lens) and that programs and services are accessible to individuals with low literacy skills; |
| • | Treasury Board specifically include literacy and numeracy skills development in its Policy for Continuous Learning in the Public Service of Canada. Furthermore, all employees with low literacy skills, irrespective of their employment status, be assisted and encouraged to submit a personal learning plan to raise their literacy and numeracy skills. Moreover, learning opportunities should be made available during working hours; |
| • | The federal government assign primary responsibility to the National Literacy Secretariat to coordinate, monitor and report on federal literacy initiatives and their results. |
CHAPTER 3 — COMPONENTS OF A FEDERAL CONTRIBUTION TO PAN-CANADIAN LITERACY AND ESSENTIAL SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
I. RECOGNIZING THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR, EMPLOYERS, EMPLOYEE REPRESENTATIVES AND LEARNERS
Recommendation 3
The Committee recommends that the federal government allocate sufficient resources to provide literacy awards at various points in the year, especially International Literacy Day, to reward literacy providers (e.g., volunteers, employers and other literacy stakeholders) for their significant involvement and excellence in promoting and delivering literacy training, and to celebrate the successes of literacy learners.
II. THE ROLE OF THE CANADIAN LEARNING INSTITUTE
Recommendation 4
The Committee recommends that the federal government include literacy research in the mandate of the Canadian Learning Institute. It is the Committee’s view that the assignment of literacy research activities to the Canadian Learning Institute should not reduce the National Literacy Secretariat’s annual budget for grants and contribution programs.
III. ASSESSING PRIOR LEARNING AND RESURRECTING THE CONCEPT OF A LEARNING PASSPORT
Recommendation 5
The Committee recommends that funds be allocated through the National Literacy Secretariat to encourage greater use of prior learning assessments for low literacy learners.
Recommendation 6
The Committee recommends that the federal government work with provincial and territorial governments and the learning community to develop a format for a learning portfolio that records individuals’ formal and informal learning, and that respects the privacy of individuals. It is hoped that this document would identify learners’ strengths and knowledge gaps, and provide a basis on which to build for those who engage in further learning. Although this recommendation is primarily intended to encourage and facilitate training among individuals with low literacy credentials, there is no reason to limit the use of this credential recognition document to low literacy learners. In fact, an obvious extension of this approach could include the learning accomplishments, including language instruction, of newcomers to Canada.
IV. DESIGNING AN ABORIGINAL LITERACY STRATEGY
Recommendation 7
The Committee recommends that the federal government immediately begin consultations with the Aboriginal communities, and provincial and territorial governments, to develop an Aboriginal Literacy Strategy that: incorporates a holistic approach; respects Aboriginal languages, traditions and values; and is funded at a level commensurate with the seriousness of the problem of low literacy among Aboriginal peoples.
Recommendation 8
The Committee anticipates that the implementation of an Aboriginal Literacy Strategy will take some time. In the interim, the Committee recommends that a new National Literacy Secretariat funding stream be created — the Aboriginal Funding Stream. In addition to the amount currently being spent (approximately $2 million) through the National Literacy Secretariat on Aboriginal literacy projects, the government should allocate $5 million to this new funding stream, of which one-half should be delivered through the national Aboriginal literacy organization that is currently being established by the National Aboriginal Design Committee, while the remainder should be delivered via the existing funding streams, as is currently being done.
Recommendation 9
The Committee recommends that the federal government allocate $15 million to supplementary Aboriginal Human Resources Development Agreements to fund Aboriginal workplace literacy initiatives.
V. BUILDING CAPACITY, STRENGTHENING PARTNERSHIPS AND
DEVELOPING NEW APPROACHES
Recommendation 10
The Committee recommends that:
| • | The National Literacy Secretariat’s annual grants and contributions budget be increased from $28.2 million to $50 million. This increase does not include new funding for the proposed Aboriginal Funding Stream. New funding should continue to be delivered through the National Funding Stream and the Federal/ Provincial/Territorial Funding Stream, including the agreement with Quebec, and should respect any other conditions that may be specified following an agreement on a pan-Canadian accord on literacy and numeracy skills development. [Note: The reference to a pan-Canadian accord is intended to mean that the federal government should try to reach unanimous agreement with the provinces and territories to address this nation’s serious low literacy skills problem. If unanimous agreement is not possible, the Committee encourages the federal government to work with individual provinces and territories to achieve the same results. In either case, since this issue falls within the constitutional domain of the provinces and territories, an agreement is required to formalize federal support.]; |
| • | One-third of the increase in funding be allocated to eligible projects for a multi-year period in order to assess the impact of stable funding on the acquisition of literacy and numeracy skills; |
| • | The National Literacy Secretariat use its extensive partnership network to examine the extent to which the demand for literacy training exceeds supply; |
| • | The National Literacy Secretariat be sensitive to the literacy needs of francophone adults in view of the findings of the International Adult Literacy Survey which found a higher incidence of low literacy among francophone adults compared to anglophone adults; |
| • | The National Literacy Secretariat develop, in conjunction with literacy providers, clear, measurable goals, objectives and performance indicators for assessing individual’s literacy and numeracy skills, to be reported on by recipients of NLS funding. Once these performance indicators are developed, Human Resources Development Canada should report on these each year in its Performance Report. |
Recommendation 11
The Committee recommends that the National Literacy Secretariat:
| • | Expand support for community learning and family literacy partnerships; |
| • | Develop distance learning educational material and facilitate projects that make access to literacy training more equitable for those who reside in remote parts of the country or prefer not to pursue literacy training in institutional settings; |
| • | Promote and support more literacy initiatives that involve the participation of public libraries, a key contributor to literacy promotion and development in our communities. |
Recommendation 12
The Committee recommends that the federal government continue to promote and support the development and evolution of learning networks that enable communities to build learning capacity through the use of network technologies.
Recommendation 13
The Committee recommends that:
| • | As part of a pan-Canadian accord on literacy and numeracy, the federal government, in agreement with the provinces and territories, consider redirecting some of the funds allocated to the Youth Employment Strategy to support further education among young early school leavers through a “learn and earn” initiative that results in at least high school completion [Note: The reference to a pan-Canadian accord is intended to mean that the federal government should try to reach unanimous agreement with the provinces and territories to address this nation’s serious low literacy skills problem. If unanimous agreement is not possible, the Committee encourages the federal government to work with individual provinces and territories to achieve the same results. In either case, since this issue falls within the constitutional domain of the provinces and territories, an agreement is required to formalize federal support.]; |
| • | The National Literacy Secretariat restore its Literacy Corps budget to $1 million starting in 2004-2005; |
| • | The Government of Canada continue to provide sufficient financial support for the pan-Canadian assessment of students’ literacy skills. |
Recommendation 14
The Committee recommends that some of the National Literacy Secretariat’s new resources for stable funding be allocated to literacy projects for persons with learning disabilities, in recognition of the fact that many individuals with learning disabilities need long-term literacy assistance for which multi-year funding would be appropriate.
Recommendation 15
The Committee recommends that the comprehensive agreement that is currently being negotiated with the provinces and territories to remove barriers to participation in work and learning for persons with disabilities include literacy and numeracy skills development as key components.
Recommendation 16
The Committee recommends that the federal government expand the budget (i.e., $23.8 million in 2003-2004) of the Opportunities Fund for Persons with Disabilities by $5 million and dedicate additional funding to literacy and numeracy skills development.
Recommendation 17
The Committee recommends that:
| • | Citizenship and Immigration Canada review its budget for Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada to ensure that sufficient funding is available to help individuals, including those with second-language literacy needs, overcome difficulties entering the labour market because they lack official language skills. Any additional funding must also be reflected in funding under the settlement agreements with Quebec, Manitoba and British Columbia; |
| • | The level and duration of language instruction provided under Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada be assessed to ensure that it is meeting the needs of immigrants and refugees; |
| • | Funding be made available to provide supplementary services, such as transportation and child care, to assist newcomers who are unable to access language instruction because they lack the necessary supports. |
Recommendation 18
The Committee recommends that, as part of a pan-Canadian accord on literacy and numeracy skills development, the federal government work in partnership with provincial and territorial governments to ensure that enough resources are available to meet the literacy and numeracy skills development needs of inmates across the country. This should include funding to permit inmates to make the transition to community literacy programs once they are released. [Note: The reference to a pan-Canadian accord is intended to mean that the federal government should try to reach unanimous agreement with the provinces and territories to address this nation’s serious low literacy skills problem. If unanimous agreement is not possible, the Committee encourages the federal government to work with individual provinces and territories to achieve the same results. In either case, since this issue falls within the constitutional domain of the provinces and territories, an agreement is required to formalize federal support.]
VI. LITERACY AND THE WORKPLACE
Recommendation 19
The Committee recommends that the National Literacy Secretariat continue to promote and develop partnerships that pool resources and utilize best practices for creating opportunities for workplace literacy.
Recommendation 20
The Committee recommends that the federal government increase spending under Part II of the Employment Insurance Act by $100 million. Subject to the terms of a pan-Canadian accord on literacy and numeracy skills development, the government should negotiate supplementary Labour Market Development Agreements and enact the necessary changes to the Employment Insurance Act to provide literacy and numeracy skills development assistance to all unemployed and employed individuals, irrespective of their historical attachment to Employment Insurance. These supplementary agreements should ensure that a certain proportion of funding is made available to address the literacy needs of members of designated groups. Seventy-five percent of the increase in Part II funding should be allocated to supplementary Labour Market Development Agreements, while the remaining 25% should be allocated to addressing workplace literacy needs as identified by sector councils. [Note: The reference to a pan-Canadian accord is intended to mean that the federal government should try to reach unanimous agreement with the provinces and territories to address this nation’s serious low literacy skills problem. If unanimous agreement is not possible, the Committee encourages the federal government to work with individual provinces and territories to achieve the same results. In either case, since this issue falls within the constitutional domain of the provinces and territories, an agreement is required to formalize federal support.]
Recommendation 21
Subject to an agreement with the provinces and territories, the Committee recommends that the federal government implement a two-year pilot project that offers small and medium-sized businesses an Employment Insurance premium rebate and other incentives such as tax credits to cover the costs of providing workplace literacy and numeracy skills development to employees. Following the completion of this pilot project, an evaluation should be conducted; if the pilot project is deemed successful, it should be extended to all employers, with a continuing emphasis on small and medium-sized businesses.