Adult literacy programs in the Okanagan got a boost from the province this week.
On Tuesday, the B.C. government announced that it was providing $67,000 to Okanagan College to support four community adult literacy program partners. The four partners are the Project Literacy Kelowna Society, the Revelstoke Family Literacy Program, the volunteer literacy tutoring progam in Revelstoke and the South Okanagan Community Literacy Program.
The province says community-based adult literacy programs are giving people the reading, writing, math and computer skills needed to manage personal finances, join in community activities and help their children with their homework.
“Supporting adult literacy programs that are delivered in the community gives people the confidence and skills to thrive,” said Melanie Mark, Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Training. “We know that many adults have some difficulty with daily living tasks like calculating medicine dosages or reading the newspaper. That’s why we’re funding community literacy programs in communities around the province including Kelowna.”
“Community adult literacy programs help students gain skills and confidence in reading for everyday life, for pursuing employment or for establishing a pathway to further education and training,” said Andrew Hay, vice president education at Okanagan College. “Partnership arrangements between the college and community groups, supported by Provincial funding like this, are enabling learners to work with skilled tutors in welcoming and convenient environments, bringing developmental adult education into communities across the region.”
Here’s the financial breakdown of how much the province is helping those four programs:
- Project Literacy Kelowna Society: $11,765
- Revelstoke Family Literacy Program: $4,943
- Volunteer literacy tutoring program in Revelstoke: $25,535
- South Okanagan Community Literacy Program: $24,800
According to the province and Okanagan College, available literacy programs include one-on-one tutoring and small group training for adult learners, often delivered by volunteers. Smaller, community-based literacy programs are well situated to meet the educational needs of adult learners.
A total of $2.4 million for 101 community adult literacy programs will help adult learners in 75 communities in 2018-19.
Province of B.C. quick facts:
- More than 700,000 adults in B.C. have significant challenges with literacy.
- 45 per cent of adults in B.C. have some difficulty with daily living tasks due to limited literacy skills. Literacy challenges can include difficulty understanding newspapers, reading health information and following instruction manuals.
- 52 per cent of adults in B.C. have difficulty in accomplishing some daily living tasks due to limited numeracy skills. Numeracy challenges can include difficulty calculating interest on a car loan, using information on a graph or calculating medicine dosage.
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