Ministry of Education: 2008 April 26
http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2005-2009/2008EDU0050-000627.htm
VICTORIA – The Province is backing a pilot program to increase immigrant families’ literacy skills, Education Minister Shirley Bond and Attorney General and Minister responsible for Multiculturalism Wally Oppal announced today.
“This government is committed to making B.C. the best-educated, most literate jurisdiction on the continent,” said Bond. “While more than one million adult British Columbians struggle with low literacy levels, they come from every background imaginable, and we know that immigrant families have unique challenges and need these unique services.”
The Immigrant Parents as Literacy Supporters (Immigrant PALS) pilot is for immigrant families and preschool-aged children who have been in Canada for up to three years. The program responds to the cultural and linguistic needs of immigrant families while helping their children start school set for success.
The announcement is taking place to wrap up English as an Additional Language Awareness Week.
“The language and literacy abilities of refugee and immigrant families impact every area of their lives,” said Oppal. “This program is another creative approach that WelcomeBC is taking to ensure the successful adaptation and integration of newcomers and their families to British Columbia.”
The pilot will take place in the Lower Mainland at seven different neighbourhood schools in the Abbotsford, Burnaby, Langley and Surrey school districts. The North Shore Multicultural Society will pilot a site in a North Vancouver school. Most sites will be tailored to specific languages, whether Farsi, Karen, Mandarin, Punjabi or Vietnamese. Each will host up to 25 families for half-day workshops 10 times a year for three years.
Through WelcomeBC, the Ministry of Attorney General is providing $615,000 over three years to the Ministry of Education in support of the partnership between the Ministry of Education and 2010 Legacies Now.
“With the support of government, we are focusing on those groups that will benefit most from such a program,” said Brenda Le Clair, managing director of strategic development and partnerships for 2010 Legacies Now. “Immigrant PALS will help us include everyone as we create lasting legacies in British Columbia, leading up to 2010 and beyond.”
Immigrant PALS will generate materials that could help grow the program into schools across the province. The program, administered by Literacy Now, part of 2010 Legacies Now, will build on the success of the existing Parents as Literacy Supporters (or PALS program) that gives all parents and caregivers strategies to encourage learning in their preschool and kindergarten-aged children.
Immigrant PALS is made possible through funding from the Government of Canada, and is one of many services available through WelcomeBC, a provincial initiative to help immigrants access existing and expanded services under a single umbrella. For more information, visit www.WelcomeBC.ca.
Immigrant PALS and PALS also complement ReadNow BC, the province’s literacy action plan, which includes a growing number of StrongStart BC early learning centres. Since 2001, the Province has now announced more than $136 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.
Visit www.2010LegaciesNow.com/PALS/ to view an outline of a typical PALS session.
