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Community solutions: Communities must be allowed and
supported to identify their own literacy needs and define their own solutions.
As well, Aboriginal governments at all levels must be involved in developing
literacy strategies for their peoples.
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Focus on future generations: We must ensure that
children's chances in life are not limited by their parents' literacy barriers.
Intergenerational literacy programs and services are a key preventative
approach.
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Respect for culture and language: Wherever possible,
learners should have opportunities to become literate in their mother tongue.
(4) In the case of French and Aboriginal
learners, this should be a right. Literacy programming and materials should be
culturally appropriate.
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Stakeholder involvement: Policies and programs at
national, provincial, and local levels must be developed and implemented in
consultation with the literacy community. (5)
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Literacy as a necessary investment in our communities and
our country: Effective policies and programs that respond to the literacy
needs of individuals, families, communities and the country will not happen
without sustained, core, operational funding.
Recommendations for Action by the
Federal Government
Recommendation 1: The federal government should take the
lead in developing a pan-Canadian literacy and essential skills strategy built
on renewed partnerships between federal, provincial, and territorial
governments, national and provincial literacy organizations, and community
stakeholders.
Action 1.1: The federal government should declare that
adult literacy and essential skills development is a national public policy
priority that requires intergovernmental cooperation and increased investment.
Action 1.2: The Minister of HRDC should call for a
national forum of relevant provincial/ territorial ministers (6) , with the objective of developing a national
agreement / accord on literacy and essential skills. The agreement should
establish pan-Canadian priorities, standards, and protocols for new federal
investments; and accountability measures for those investments. The development
of a national accord on literacy and essential skills should engage community
stakeholders and should build on lessons learned from existing federal
/provincial /territorial models of cooperation (7) as well as on exemplary provincial /
territorial literacy strategies.
| 4 |
La
Fédération canadienne pour l'alphabètisation en
français (FCAF) is developing a francophone literacy strategy that
reflects the right of all Canadian citizens, wherever they live, to have access
to literacy services in French. This strategy will be made available
soon. |
| 5 |
Our
definition of the literacy community includes learners as well as people
working (paid or unpaid) in any capacity in the field. |
| 6 |
Literacy and essential skills are not neatly categorized in
provincial or territorial ministries. For example, in some provinces and
territories, literacy and essential skills development is the responsibility of
Education Ministers, in others it is the responsibility of Labour Market
Ministers. In addition to putting the issue on the agenda of existing forums
such as CMEC and the Forum for Labour Market Ministers, we encourage the
Minister to host a broader forum of "relevant" Ministers to ensure that all of
the right parties are at the table. |
| 7 |
For
example, the National Children's Agenda, the Early Childhood Development Accord
or the National Housing Framework Agreement. |
|