For Immediate Release
2007EDU0123-001186
Sept. 24, 2007
VICTORIA – Literacy will be the number one issue on the table for 14 education and post-secondary ministers from across Canada when they meet in Victoria on Tuesday, announced Education Minister Shirley Bond.
“I am pleased to be the chair for this significant national meeting,” said Bond. “Provincial and territorial ministers will be grappling with one of the country’s leading challenges, reaching out to help the 22 per cent of adult Canadians who have difficulty with reading and comprehension.”
The education ministers are in Victoria as part of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC). CMEC is an intergovernmental body composed of the ministers responsible for elementary-secondary and post-secondary education from the provinces and territories and is a venue to share information, resources and strategies on common education-related issues.
“Helping people improve their literacy skills allows them to make the most of their abilities in their careers, as parents, and as members of our society,’ said Advanced Education Minister Murray Coell, who is responsible for adult literacy. “Working together to build literacy levels is one of the most important things we can do for our individual jurisdictions, and for Canada as a whole.”
B.C. is acting as host for the meeting and is the lead province for the CMEC’s Literacy Action Plan. The new literacy action plan focuses on three strategies:
· Building formal policy frameworks on literacy for both school-age and adult learners;
· Creating networks of organizations and individuals to gather and share best practices; and
· Encouraging additional literacy research, statistic sharing, and the effective use of data.
“Over one million British Columbians face reading challenges every day. Many cannot even fill in a simple job application,” said Bond. “By helping them participate fully in society, we are enriching the lives of every citizen in this province.”
Since 2001, the Province has announced over $125 million in new literacy programs and services in support of its goal of making British Columbia the best-educated, most literate jurisdiction in North America. Recently, funding for the ReadNow BC program to support adult literacy was increased from $27 million to nearly $44.5 million.
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Media contact:
Lara Perzoff
Public Affairs Bureau
Ministry of Education
250 356-5963
250 920-9040 (cell)
