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Opposition Leader Gerry Reid is correcting false information issued in a
press release this afternoon by Education Minister Joan Burke. "In her
press release this afternoon, Minister Burke stated that I established a
required number of 12 students before an Adult Basic Education (ABE) funding
grant would be issued. This is absolutely false," said Mr. Reid. "At that
time, a number of 12 students was picked arbitrarily for the pilot project
and was never enforced. In fact, the number of students dropped below that
number and the pilot project was never cancelled. The number of students
required for a program was expected to change as the results of the pilot
project were finalized. I am today releasing a briefing note from the
Department of Education from when I was minister that discusses this program
and verifies that it would be expanded and finalized once the pilot project
ended in 2005.
"The pilot project that was set up when I was minister was scheduled to
expand the program by establishing new sites. The number of students needed
to establish a program was to be decided in consultation with program co-ordinators
throughout the province once the pilot was completed. We understand that the
recommendations made from the Deer Lake co-ordinators were dismissed by this
government. The current minister is the individual who established the
permanent number of 12, a number that obviously should have changed after
the results of the pilot project were known.
"Instead of issuing false press releases trying to deflect attention away
from her own government’s inaction on the ABE program, I suggest the
minister correct her government’s error and change the number of students
required to qualify for program funding. In her statement today, the
minister is still planning to terminate the Deer Lake program and I feel
this is totally unacceptable. Maybe if she consulted with former members of
the now defunct Literacy Branch of government she would have noticed that
her information was totally false and inaccurate."
Briefing Note - Question Period - New ABE Level I Pilot Project
Issue: A new ABE Level I program, and delivery model,
is being developed for piloting at select locations.
Anticipated question:
Agencies throughout Newfoundland and Labrador which
deliver ABE Level I programming are concerned the new program is being
offered at only six sites in the province. What about those who are
delivering the current ABE program elsewhere in the province? Will they be
left out in the cold when the new ABE program is adopted?
Suggested response:
The department is revising the current Adult Basic
Education (ABE) Level I program guide and developing a new program
delivery model to be piloted for 2 years (2003-04; 2004-05) at 3
existing sites and 3 new sites.
Through this pilot process, information will be
gathered to make adjustments to a final, improved ABE Level I program
delivery model that will eventually be expanded throughout the province.
Meanwhile, "transitional funding" is being provided
to adult basic literacy and ABE Level I programs that have historically
received operational funding.
Background:
The preparatory year (2002-03) for the pilot project
has received $75,000 funding from the National Literacy Secretariat (NLS)
and $36,700 from the Department of Education. Based on the success of
the work done this year, the NLS will determine its funding support for
the duration of the two-year pilot project.
A provincial co-ordinator has been contracted to help
the department implement the pilot. The ABE Level I Working Group
(comprised of representatives from stakeholder groups and government),
established in 2001, will participate in the monitoring and evaluation
of the pilot.
At the end of the pilot process, a plan will be developed for expanding
the model on a provincial scale.
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