Literacy - A Call to Action

The Council of Atlantic Ministers of Education and Training have launched a literacy campaign in this region.  They've produced several television spots promoting literacy and it's links to the economy, employment and quality of life.  If you haven't seen them yet, you can watch them here:

http://camet-camef.ca/default.asp?mn=1.81.245

Our Founder and Executive Director, Lucinda Low, saw those ads recently.  She shares her thoughts below.

Rhonda

I’ve been thinking a lot about literacy lately, thanks to the awareness ads on television promoting the, “Literacy: It means more than you think” campaign. Launched by the Council of Atlantic Ministers of Education and Training, the campaign is meant to reinforce the link between literacy and quality of life, health, the economy and employment.


While I agree that literacy is critical to the success of every member of society, we need our governments to truly support the learning process to make the message more than good PR.

Take Nova Scotia for example. Recently, the Department of Education asked all school boards to start planning for a 22% budget cut, to be phased in over three years. As many School Board members have said, a cut of this magnitude would be devastating to our education system, resulting in fewer teachers, fewer programs, and fewer support staff in our schools.

In my view, budget cuts to our schools will result in a whole new generation of Nova Scotians who can’t read. Literacy can only be addressed if we start supporting our children from the earliest stages of learning. We need teachers who are not overworked or burdened with large classes, who can identify a struggling reader in the first years of school. We need a full team of resource and support staff with the training to address reading disabilities, offering appropriate, individualized teaching strategies so that our children don’t fall behind. We need continued support and monitoring of those children as they move through the junior high school and high school grades so that they continue to succeed and remain engaged in the learning experience.

Already, the supports for learning disabilities in our schools are limited at best. What happens if the few resource teachers we do have are cut and professional development funding dries up? What happens if class sizes are increased and teachers are asked to do more with less? Children will start falling through the cracks. Children with reading disabilities will disengage, disrupt, and eventually give up on school. Imagine the impact on that child’s quality of life, health and employment prospects. Imagine the impact on our economy if a whole generation of children can’t read.

So my call to action for the Ministers is this. Stop telling us that literacy is important and start showing us how you’re going to help. Make a commitment to creating a strong foundation for literacy in our schools, and support those schools in the way that will make a difference. Don’t pinch pennies now, or our society will pay in the future.

Lucinda Low
Founder and Executive Director
Bridgeway Academy