Overview:

Rob Despins (substituting for Stacey Huget) provided delegates with background information about essential skills and why there is urgency for colleges and career preparation instructors to address training in this area. He stressed that the essential skills issue is much more complex than just being able to read and write at one universally basic level – literacy is the ability to read, write, work with numbers, problem solve, communicate and/or think critically at whatever level is basic to the task a hand. Thus, basic skills in the context of college training programs aimed at workplace demands are a bit of a moving target. “Literacy”, “basic”, or “essential” skills are the foundation for all training and skills development – and for lifelong learning in and beyond institutional and workplace settings.

Rob then provided an overview of the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) – its participants, objectives, methodologies, definitions, standards, and results. Using data from the IALS and other significant studies, he demonstrated why essential skills should be an important issue in today’s training centres, especially considering Canada’s aging workforce, major skill shortages, and constantly changing work environments. Rob emphasized that in the world today, it is impossible to predict accurately the occupations that will exist five years from now. Therefore, colleges cannot train for the gaps of the future because they cannot know what these will be. Instead, colleges and institutes must produce individuals with good learning skills so they will be easy to train as labour markets change. In other words, essential skills are needed to facilitate training and re-training - to ensure workers have the basic skills necessary to acquire new technical skills.

Rob focused some of his presentation on 10 myths Canadians should not believe about literacy:

• If there’s a problem with basic skills in Canada, it’s because of high levels of immigration.
• You either read or you don’t read. You’re either literate or you’re not.
• Essential skills are a firm foundation. Once you’ve got them, you never lose them.
• Essential skills are a reflection of one’s education.
• If you can hide it, a lack of basic skills will not impact on your life.
• It doesn’t matter what you read – as long as you read.
• Literacy is developed at home.
• Since we’re collectively better educated than our parents, literacy must be less of a problem than it once was.
• It is a better investment to train the best and forget the rest.
• I don’t have a problem. I only hire grade twelve graduates.

Rob asked delegates to consider why essential skills should be an important issue for Canadian colleges and training institutes and why essential skills development is often overlooked.

(Stacey’s full presentation is attached.)