‘It transforms people’s lives’

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This article was published 18/11/2024 (323 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Adult education advocates want the Manitoba government to top up funding for mature student programs as part of its new poverty reduction strategy.

“It transforms people’s lives, people who are stuck somewhere, going nowhere, for whatever reason didn’t complete high school,” said Jim Silver, professor emeritus of urban and inner-city studies at the University of Winnipeg.

This month, Silver made a submission to the province as part of consultations on a new five-year plan to get more Manitobans out of poverty and improve their quality of life.

The researcher’s three-page letter suggests adult learning centres and literacy programs, which run high school courses at no cost and workshops to prepare students for them, are currently “treated as an afterthought.”

Silver has written extensively on the benefit of these programs and fallout of their stagnant funding for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, where he is a research associate.

For the first time in nearly a decade, the province allotted $1 million extra for operations in the spring. While directors welcomed the injection, some have concerns about how it was dispersed as well as inequities in the funding formula overall.

In his Nov. 5 submission, Silver made the case for doubling the annual budget of about $22 million, citing operating constraints and these programs’ potential to break intergenerational cycles of poverty.

Kim Dalton, director of the Adult Education Centre at 1747 Main St., said she’s confused by the inequity in per capita dollars between the traditional public school system and programs such as hers.

Status quo funding amounts to about one per cent of the budget for kindergarten-to-Grade 12 education in 2024-25, yet the mature student population is equivalent to roughly four per cent of the K-12 population.

As far as Dalton is concerned, it’s unfair that students get less support if they were unable to attain a diploma on their first try.

“Why suddenly is it not as important?” she said, adding her role is to help adults build their confidence, prepare for post-secondary, if that’s their goal, and ultimately, find meaningful employment.

Dalton noted adults register for a range of reasons, from wanting to get off social assistance to seeking Canadian credentials.

Both her school and the Seven Oaks School Division’s other adult education site, at 950 Jefferson Ave., have recorded an influx in young registrants who struggled to keep up with classes during COVID-19 pandemic disruptions.

Manitoba’s on-time graduation rate has hovered around 83 per cent in recent years. The percentage of students who graduate within six years of entering high school is about 88 per cent.

Among the Indigenous student population, those respective figures are about 50 per cent and 66 per cent.

“But they’re coming back in significant numbers into adult learning centres and that’s a wonderful thing,” Silver said. “(A well-funded system) ought to be part of reconciliation.”

Provincial data show students who self-identified as First Nations, Métis or Inuit accounted for 44 per cent of the 8,624 registrants in adult education programs last year.

Overall enrolment and graduation rates grew by four per cent and 15 per cent, respectively.

Urban Circle Training Centre currently has a wait-list for its adult education program.

“The biggest challenge when it comes to the funding for us is that we can’t compete with (salaries offered by) school divisions or even adult learning centres that are attached with school divisions,” said Nick Chasowy, principal of the independent program based at 519 Selkirk Ave.

Silver said some directors have told him they have had to stop advertising because they cannot accommodate demand.

“We obviously want to serve as many people as possible; there’s work to do,” Advanced Education Minister Renée Cable said during an interview.

Given these programs range from being held in church basements to comprehensive hubs connected to community services, their funding is unique, Cable said.

A review of adult education, which began in August, is underway to continue conversations with stakeholders and “fact finding” so the department can assess the sector’s needs, she said.

The minister said early results suggest mature students succeed when they feel a sense of belonging and are able to access wraparound support, including child care.

She credited Silver for playing an instrumental role in shaping the plan.

Cable added a provincial survey on the poverty reduction strategy includes questions about adult education. The public poll closes today.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

CCPA submission on adult education