Table 4.2: Childcare Responsibilities

4.2.4. Major Needs of Students

Students identified their most important needs, in order of priority, as educational, self- improvement and job training (see Table 4-4). When asked what prompted them to enroll in the ABE programs, education for upgrading and job training were mentioned as the top two reasons. Self-improvement was the third most frequently cited reason. Most students expressed the opinion that the ABE program which they attended was helping them meet these needs.

In terms of barriers to regular attendance, transportation must be seen as a concern for at least 16 of the women who live more than 15 minutes from the program location. Nine of the 30 women described themselves as "regular tenders". The illness of children was the most frequently cited reason for not attending regularly.

Three-quarters of the women students perceived the needs of women in ABE programs as different from those of men in these programs. This figure should be compared to the responses of providers to the same question (see section 4.3.8).

4.2.5. Students' Perceptions of the Adequacy of the Programs

Reading, writing and mathematics were the subjects in which most students wished to be taught (see Table 4-5). Throughout the interviews, students frequently mentioned that personal life skills training (assertiveness, independence, confidence training) should be part of ABE programs, particularly for women.

With respect to the way in which they prefer to learn, students expressed a wish for small group and one-to-one teaching formats. The classroom format was among the least preferred. No student mentioned distance education in any form (correspondence, radio or television) as a preferred format. Some students did mention, however, that certain learning formats were more appropriate for particular subjects or activities than other formats.

Many of the women who attended the programs on a full-time basis expressed the wish that study time be offered as part of the school day. The rationale given for this was that family workloads made it difficult for them to find quiet study time in their homes. Twenty-four of the thirty students said that they were learning what they wanted to learn in the programs. They were extremely pleased with the instructors; with the fact that they were treated as adults; and with the self-determined learning pace.

With respect to what they liked least about the programs, two observations are worth noting. First, no student mentioned the absence of child-care facilities on the site of the programs as a problem for them. This may imply that they regard themselves as responsible for securing their own childcare arrangements and/or are satisfied with the arrangements that they have managed to secure. Second, even though 18 of these students were attending the programs full-time and consequently could not work full-time, receive welfare or unemployment insurance benefits, none expressed dissatisfaction with the financial cost of attending the programs. This could be due to the fact that the fees of all but 2 of the students were subsidized by government agencies. When queried for information about their financial situation, however, all but 4 of the students expressed grave concern about these subsidies. The British Columbia students were particularly apprehensive about losing their sponsorship prior to satisfactory completion of their programs.