FOREWORD

The Canadian Congress for Learning Opportunities for Women (CCLOW) is a national, non-profit and voluntary organization concerned with the provision of learning opportunities for women in Canada. CCLOW defines a learning opportunity as any formal or informal means through which women may develop personally, socially, economically and politically. The objectives of CCLOW are:

• to promote networking of individuals and organizations involved with learning opportunities for women;

• to identify barriers to learning and promote change;

• to support and encourage learning and training for women;

• to investigate unmet needs in adult education programs and services;

• to assess and promote innovative learning programs for women; and

• to publicize critical issues in women's learning through briefs and position papers.

This report is one of CCLOW's many writings on critical issues in women's learning in Canada. In the following pages, the focus is on functionally illiterate women and their urgent need for upgrading and job training programs. How adequate is the present provision of adult basic education programs for these women? This is the question underlying the report, its raison d'etre. The information provided in the report sheds light on this question, and raises many more questions and issues which must be dealt with if learning opportunities for under- educated women are to improve.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

. The staff of the ABE Project thank those members of the Project Advisory Committee who gave so willingly of their time, energy and expertise: especially, Jennifer Horsman, Dorothy MacKeracher, Gladys Watson and Susan McCrae Vander Voet who not only advised project staff on the conduct of the survey, but also participated extensively in the final revision of the report.

. Appreciation is also expressed to those instructors and administrators of ABE programs across Canada who made the interviewing of students possible, especially Mae Burrows of Douglas College, British Columbia, and Cliff Nichols, Carol Seniuk and Claudia Butler of Keewatin College, Manitoba.

. Thanks are also due to all those who participated in the survey, especially those who sent ABE resource materials to CCLOW.

. Special thanks are expressed to Dr. Philip Webb of the University of Toronto who advised the author on matters of coding and created the program for the data analysis; and to Beverley Bain, also of the University of Toronto, who assisted in the organization of the findings.

. Last, but not least, sincere thanks are given to Dorothy MacKeracher who was responsible for the editing and technical layout of the report.

Paula DeCoito
Elizabeth Wood
Toronto, Ontario
December 1984