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We decided to photograph three of these settings in the Toronto
area. (see Appendix D.) These three buildings are to be found within a one-mile
radius of each other and provide three different types of adult basic education
programs in quite different facilities.
| a.) |
The Casa Loma Campus of George Brown College of Applied
Arts and Technology offers |
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academic upgrading to Grade 13 to both Manpower
students and to regular fee-paying students. Classes are offered during the
day, five days per week in a lavish, almost overwhelming environment. Our
impression of the building was that finding our way around required a sound
sense of direction, lots of self-confidence and some perseverance. The setting
feels formal, distant and imposing. There are good food services and library
services. The building is within five minutes of the subway. |
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| b.) |
The Toronto Adult Day School is located two short blocks
from George Brown and is two |
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minutes from the subway. The school is operated
and staffed by the Toronto Board of Education in facilities provided by the
Toronto Department of Social Services. The school provides basic literacy and
academic upgrading to grade 10. This particular school used to be located in a
downtown basement which flooded regularly. The current facilities are viewed as
a "palace" by the staff. The facilities are on the third floor. There is one
elevator. Food services are non-existent although there is a kitchen and large
common room for eating. The resources include a small library and a number of
typewriters. While the rooms are grimy, the rooms are bright and cheerful and
provide a great view of the Casa Lorna. Across the street, however, the trucks
of a large province-wide dairy come and go constantly during the day. Our
impression of the school was that it was friendly, comfortable, had a temporary
look and was furnished with second-hand furniture. The building was at one time
a factory of some type, and the interior decorating cannot hide this fact. |
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| c.) |
The Toronto Board of Education in its infinite wisdom,
has decided that the Adult Day |
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School will not provide adult basic education
programs at night. These evening programs are provided twice each week at Jesse
Ketchum Public School, an old elementary school which serves children to grade
6 only. We did not tour the inside of this facility but the outside consists of
a typical school yard: high fence, playground equipment, small water fountains,
and so on. Our impression is that the inside would be furnished with small
desks, small plumbing fixtures and inadequate resources. |
Basic problems
| 1. |
The lack of assured funding and the limited resources
provided for adult basic education |
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programs means that facilities are often
temporary and look it, borrowed from some community agency, and easy to move or
disband at any time. This may be the result of the ad hoc nature of adult basic
education policy or of the attitudes of service-providers that the need for
such services is temporary and not their real responsibility anyway. |
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| 2. |
Preferred facilities would be in community settings, with
friendly comfortable adult |
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surroundings, furnishings that do not look
second-hand, and plumbing fixtures for adult-sized women. Rooms should be
accessible to the handicapped. There should be facilities for food services,
rest areas for socializing and eating that are comfortable and separate from
the learning areas. |
Recommendations for CCLOW
This committee recommends that the following policy statements
be accepted by the Canadian Committee on Learning Opportunities for Women.
CCLOW will develop and make recommendations to the various
service-providers in regard to the provision of capital funding for facilities
and resources for adult basic education programs
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