National Adult Literacy Database

This feature article by Astrid Van Den Broek is posted on NALD with acknowledgement that it was first published in the Canadian Library Association publication 'Feliciter,' Vol. 57, No. 2, and is used with permission of the Canadian Library Association.

Ontario’s education system is one of several worldwide that, in the wake of the recent financial meltdown, were forced to take a hard look at how debt and personal finances were treated inside the classroom.

The world-renowned author has been keeping an eye on the budget-cutting debate now raging in Toronto, passing on to her Twitter followers a link to a petition against the possible closing of library branches.

NIACE welcomes recognition of the importance of ensuring that colleges and universities are ‘equally accessible’ to people who didn’t go into further education or higher education at 16 or 18 and the recommendation that ministers restore funding for FE access courses for students over the age of 24. NIACE also supports the development of a national program of access and foundation courses.

Staff members at the PEI Literacy Alliance say essential skills are the basic skills needed to learn all other skills. They have compiled an essential skills tip sheet for family vacations.

UNB in Fredericton has conducted research into financial camps for young people, including a program developed by Merrill Lynch and Sesame Street. The university has designed 15 modules to start them early on the road to financial success.

Canada’s premiers have announced the recipients of the seventh annual Council of the Federation Literacy Award. Presented in each province and territory, the award celebrates outstanding achievement, innovative practice and excellence in literacy. The winners are...

NALD dedicates this report to all Canadians who embrace the significant role that technology plays in learning, communication, collaboration and professional development within the field of literacy and essential skills.

Canadians across the country have a new opportunity to recognize the exceptional contributions volunteers make in their communities. Nominations for the Prime Minister’s Volunteer Awards will be accepted until September 9, 2011.

This resource provides employers, trainers and educators, labour unions and other professional groups concerned with workplace skills development a starting point to actively incorporate informal learning into the learning toolbox of the Canadian workplace.

“This conversation requires honesty and rigorous self-examination by everyone – First Nations communities, professional educators, and politicians from band council to provincial legislature to federal Parliament and, not least, citizens in the mainstream. All of us have a deep vested interest in fixing what needs to be fixed.”

Michael Connelly, author of The Fifth Witness, says that browsing through physical books brings inspiration of the kind that led him from wandering his campus library’s stacks straight to a writing career.

Earlier this year NIACE heard from a number of learning providers in the UK concerned about the changing provision for learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, especially those on Foundation Learning programs.

In an effort to better serve its clients and stakeholders across the broad spectrum of literacy and essential skills, the National Adult Literacy Database (NALD) is pleased to inform you about several enhancements.

Each month NALD releases Library user statistics in a feature known as the Top 20 downloads/20 Plus téléchargés.