Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise here today to talk about the need for this government to make a commitment to adult basic education and literacy.
In the last year, we have seen the sunset of a million dollar program, called the Community Skills for Work. The department is bringing it back, to some degree, putting some money back into it, but there were indications that they were not happy with either the efficiency or the effectiveness of the program being delivered.
Success rates did not seem to show that they were getting value for money, Mr. Speaker, but I would suggest to you that when we take a look at the labour force survey, and we see the staggering low levels of education and we understand that there is a correlation between education and income.
I asked about the review that the department did of the Community Skills for Work, and asking the right questions, looking in the right places. I think it is important that we make the commitment. When we see waiting lists around the various communities for adult basic education programs that go on for a year and sometimes two years, we know there is certainly an interest in these programs.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to talk about delivery of adult basic education and how the department chooses to deliver its programs. Typically, adults who want to go back to school have a couple of choices. They can go back to high school with students maybe half their age, but they do not often have the option of taking night school. So, in effect, what we do is we force them to go on income support, Mr. Speaker, if they choose to upgrade and pursue further education.
I do not think this makes any sense. I think it is something the department has to closely look at.
Yesterday, I also brought up the issue of distance learning and the DCN, and applauded the department for some of the things it is doing, especially in conjunction with the Calgary School Board. We discussed text versus visual use of the DCN. I think it is going to be important to realize that if we hope the DCN can bridge the gap and start to be used for applications like adult basic education, visual learning is critical for adults. We are going to have to be able to deliver programs over the DCN. I think this is certainly something the department should consider.
Was the Community Skills for Work Program efficient and effective, Mr. Speaker? I do not have the answer to that, but I do not believe the department does either. I think some more thought had to go into this. I am glad they decided to put some more money into this.
It is a time, Mr. Speaker, where we need to be doing more for adult basic education, not less. Thank you.
-- Applause