As businesses and schools adjust to a slower economy, debate is growing about the need, willingness, and ability to help adults sustain and develop their literacy skills. A recent article in the Calgary Herald highlights different sides of the issue.
According to Carolyn Reicher, Adult Literacy and Learning Advocate for the Calgary Public Library, approximately 40 percent of adults in the province of Alberta do not have the literacy skills they need to reach their full employment potential in a knowledge-based economy.
“It’s not that these individuals can’t read at all, but they may not be able to read well enough to follow instructions in an e-mail from their boss, navigate the Internet well enough to search for jobs, read a map, or understand a company’s safety manual,” she explained.
Not everyone is convinced employers should be asked to take on the role of offering literacy programs.
“Taxpayers spend billions of dollars each year on the kindergarten to Grade 12 education system and if students are coming out and they can’t read and write then that’s probably where more attention needs to be placed,” said Colin Craig, Canadian Taxpayers Federation prairie director. “School boards should explain why that’s happening.”
Merit Software programs have a strong track record of helping schools and tutors improve literacy skills of students. However, these programs have an equally long history of helping adults in workplace settings improve their literacy skills.
Merit is effective for adults because the programs tutor them while they work. Built-in feedback and automatic scoring help learners’ review and relearn concepts they may have once been taught, but have now forgotten.
In addition, the content of Merit programs is not juvenile in any way. The structure of the programs is designed so students can learn at their own pace and advance when they demonstrate readiness.
Read the complete Calgary Herald article here.