Projects funded by the National Literacy Secretariat tend to use the term ‘literacy’ even where there are other dimensions addressed, most often numeracy, oral communications, and writing. This was probably to adhere more closely to NLS funding criteria. Where NLS projects did use the term ‘essential skills’, it is not clear whether they are using the HRSDC definitions.
Determining the trade involved: Online surveys provided the best information about the trades involved in the various projects. The Internet search and NLS list of projects did not usually specify the trade involved. Projects by certain groups such as labour unions or joint groups by definition represent trades. For these, we have assumed that the project affected equally all trades represented by that group. We found more references to ‘the trades’ or to ‘apprentices’ then we did to specific trades.
While we did ask whether a skilled trade was a Red Seal trade, the information we received online was often not accurate or people just did not know. We have used the Ellis Chart to determine if a trade is a Red Seal trade.
Less useful information: Some categories in the project template proved less helpful than anticipated. For example, we asked people to provide us with start and end dates. Overall, we found that rarely were the dates provided. Where we did have dates, they were only helpful in situating when the project took place, and were not helpful in describing ongoing activities. Likewise, asking where the activities took place was less useful than asking about the scope of the project.
The cost of projects was another element that did not yield great results. There was no information about costs of NLS projects and few of the online respondents provided this information about their projects.
We received very sketchy information about specific target groups, links to PLAR, information on how the project started, intended and actual outcomes, and evaluations. In some cases, this was due to having to rely on project descriptions written at the beginning of a project. In other cases, even where the information was provided online to us, there was not much data.
Our research identified 121 projects that explicitly or implicitly related to Essential Skills and the trades or apprenticeship. Annex A has a list of all 121 projects, while Annex B provides more detail about each project. The full database was provided to HRSDC on a CD.