2.

Those policies which do affect adult basic education services appear to be the result of

a remedial approach to the situation rather than the result of a strong positive learning approach. The remedial approach assumes that adults requiring these services are failures who need to be rehabilitated rather than as adults who need to learn something.
 
3.

Such policies as do exist tend to be permissive and/or implicit rather than obligatory

and/or explicit. As a result adult basic education services are not integrated and have developed piecemeal over time.
 
4.

Such policies as do exist do not indicate that adult basic education services are

considered to be an integral part of all adult education services. Rather they appear to be a dysfunctional segment, belonging to neither the elementary-secondary system nor to the post-secondary system.
 
5.

Such policies as do exist do not indicate who is to accept responsibility for the

provision of such services: whether it is an individual or societal responsibility; a federal, provincial or municipal responsibility; or a private or public responsibility.
 
6.

Such policies as do exist tend to assign blame to the individual illiterate as a failure

rather than to the educational system.
 
7.

There is little or no integration of policies at the federal, provincial and municipal levels

or between levels.
 
8.

This type of unintegrated, unspecified, permissive system tends to place women at a

greater disadvantage, since the only unifying aspect of the entire field is the need of adult basic education services for economic purposes. Since women are already discriminated against in the economic system, it stands to reason that they will also be discriminated against in an educational system designed to support the economic system.

Recommendations to CCLOW

This committee recommends that the following policies be adopted by the Canadian Committee on Learning Opportunities for Women:

CCLOW believes that every woman has the right to an education which will enable her to participate effectively in society, to develop her full potential as a human being, to strengthen her sense of self-worth, and to contribute in positive ways to her community and family groups.

CCLOW believes that those women who, by virtue of their lack of fundamental education or language skills, can be described as educationally disadvantaged are a top priority in determining the development of educational opportunities and the distribution of available educational resources.

CCLOW will develop recommendations for legislative change: at the national level for the purpose of dealing with federal policies and at the provincial level for the purpose of dealing with provincial and municipal policies.

CCLOW will work co-operatively with other special interest groups in developing recommendations for integrated policy in the field of adult basic education. Such groups might include: the Movement for Canadian Literacy; Teachers of English as a Second Language; and the Canadian Association for Adult Education.

Your additions or suggestions .....

Back Contents Next