The 1988 Access Report proposed an expansion of educational activity and funding in the province. It specifically identified literacy and adult basic education as a priority concern, and gave preeminence to colleges.¹²⁴ The report recommended that colleges be provided with funding to cover the costs of fees, books and supplies for students enrolled in ABE programmes, and that a provincial advisory committee on literacy be formed. A 1989 report from a Provincial Literacy Advisory Committee¹²⁵ made 34 recommendations. It called for a comprehensive strategy for literacy, and for an immediate 100% increase in literacy funding, with smaller increases in subsequent years. Funding would provide not only for college programs, but also for community and workplace programs. Although the provincial legislature unanimously supported the recommendations, the government has so far not assented to them, except for making the Ministry of Advanced Education, Technology and Training responsible for literacy strategy, instituting tuition-free enrollment in literacy programs, and consolidating the position of a provincial literacy co-ordinator.¹²⁶ There is some movement towards program expansion, creating positions for community college outreach workers work with community groups and workplaces, and some consideration of direct funding to community groups.¹²⁷

Yukon

In the Yukon, the traditional provider of institutional programs is Yukon College, which developed out of a vocational training centre in 1983. It offers basic literacy classes at its main campus in Whitehorse and in communities throughout the Yukon. Recently there have been efforts within Yukon College to train practitioners from and for the outlying communities. An independent literacy organization, the Yukon Literacy Council, was formed in 1983, and began receiving government funding in 1986. It operates volunteer tutoring programs in the three largest Yukon communities.