Return of dropouts

In answer to the question whether ABE dropouts later return to continue their learning, most people said "Yes", but added some qualifiers: “Those who actively worked [in class] do, those who didn't, don't” "Yes, but rare if they're at the Grade 1 or 2 level." One Administrator said she didn't know, but believed they did. Another Administrator said, "Don’t know." Yet another said "Yes, a lot do, some after 1 or 2 years, some 8 or 10 years later."

As a group, this one was the most culturally diverse. There were nine Natives altogether - two females and seven males, although two of the males were of mixed ethnic parentage. There were two male immigrants who had been in the country a long time - one of these was Anglophone and the other an ESL immigrant. The group also included six women of Doukhobor background. The group contained many of the younger members in the total sample as well as the 17 year old. The Doukhobor women were all in the 45 - 55 age range and were the oldest members within this group. The oldest male was about 45 years old. There were four people with severe learning disabilities - two men and two women.

THE DOUKHOBOR WOMEN - A SPECIAL CASE

The old generation of Doukhobors was against school so their children had very little or no schooling. One woman went as far as Grade 9, but her mother was a widow so presumably there was less opposition in the absence of the father. The mother did not believe in extended education, however, and the woman quit to go to work. She had worked most of her life. Another woman said she went as far as Grade 8 but had to travel to another centre for this schooling and stayed in residence. Two of the remaining women said they had had no schooling but had taught themselves to read. Another woman said that her mother had taught her the alphabet and that she had attended school for six months in Grade 3. The other woman had had one year of schooling.