4.3.8 Literacy:

Statistics tell us that one in five Canadians is functionally illiterate, and therefore, is increasingly excluded from many of the social and economic benefits of society, including sources of stable, adequately paid employment. If the emerging employment picture of a small highly-paid core and a large periphery of marginally-employed poor is to be altered, then one part of the alteration must be a commitment to ensuring that all Canadians are able, through literacy, to exercise their basic right to have access to the paid work which will enable them to be self-supporting.

CCLOW has a well-established history of work in the area of women and literacy, including most recently, participation in signing the Cedar Glen Declaration (53). Lobbying for a national literacy policy is critically important. In the field of literacy, the need is not for programs which demonstrate the potential of literacy training. There are already in existence a number of proven educational models. The need here is for the community-at-large, as represented by the state, to acknowledge through policy that literacy is a matter of public interest and individual right.

In our research, we attempted to find governments that were demonstrating that literacy is a priority. We found that although some provinces do have policies in support of literacy, there has been little indication of a willingness to allocate resources to a degree commensurate with the size of the problem.

One exception is the Province of Quebec. There, the Province has made an explicit commitment to literacy. The Ministry of Education is responsible for publishing a report every two years evaluating progress in the area of literacy. At the program level, the provincial commitment appears to have created fertile ground. For example, in Montreal, there are literacy programs available through Dawson College, through the high schools, and through non-profit organizations.

4.3.9 New Approaches to Public Education:

Our research revealed a strongly-voiced need for comprehensive public education programs with respect to women. One place where such a program has taken place is in Sweden. Earlier in this report, we referred to a campaign entitled "More Women for Industry" carried out during 1982-83. As a result of that campaign, in 1984, the central Government in Sweden asked each of the Swedish counties to prepare an analysis of the position of women within their regional labour markets and educational systems. The work was done jointly by county labour boards and boards of education. Analysis of the reports showed that, despite regional differences, the same pattern of employment existed all over Sweden, with most women predominantly employed in services, and men employed mostly in the production of goods.

In March 1985, the Swedish Government allocated SEK 15 million (about $3 million Cdn.) for a wide-ranging action program designed to strengthen the position of women on the labour market. The proposals in the action program were based principally on experience accruing from the campaign described above. Policy measures in four fields were recommended:

1. Throughout the education sector, efforts must be made to reduce bias on grounds of sex in educational and occupational choices.
   
   
2. In the employment sector, special supportive measures will have to be introduced for women entering traditionally male jobs and for women whose jobs can potentially change or disappear as a result of technical progress.
   
   
3. In family life, men must be encouraged to play a more active part in caring for the home and children.
   
   
4. In the community as a whole, women must be more strongly represented in all decision-making and advisory bodies.

Projects are being launched at pre-school level in order to bring children into contact with everyday technology at an early age. New models are also being developed for further training of teachers and vocational counselors in equality issues. Women -- above all new employees -- who have opted for non-traditional occupations are supported by means of back-up groups or study circles and companies are being encouraged to induce women, through special recruitment measures or changes in working hours, to enter occupational spheres where men predominate. Unemployed women are also offered, in some projects, introductory vocational technical training.

These and other nation-wide activities are still in progress. Another SEK 15 million was allocated for the 1986/87 fiscal year and the Government has proposed the allocation of a further SEK 17 million for 1987/88.