National Adult Literacy Database

Consulting firm Towers Watson says it has found evidence that employers with a fully engaged workforce tend to have higher profit margins. The firm’s study covered some 32,000 employees, including 1,000 in Canada. It found that about two-thirds of the Canadian employees surveyed weren’t “fully engaged” in their work and felt frustrated by the level of support they receive.

NALD will continue to provide web hosting on its servers free of charge for non-profit customers focused primarily on community or adult literacy and essential skills. However, we will no longer be undertaking design, redesign, development or maintenance of websites.

A European study claims that the UK has an oversupply of low-skilled workers, but demand is falling and there is a shortage of workers with high-quality vocational skills. It also continues to have a relatively high number of adults with very poor basic literacy and numeracy skills, who are not well placed to benefit from vocational training.

Islanders with a disability or illness who are unable to get to their local library branch can have the joy of reading delivered directly to their own homes, thanks to the new Home Library Service.

The Aon Hewitt survey measures the percentage of employees who would recommend their firm to others, have no desire to leave, and say that the environment inspires them. They measure corporate social responsibility and opportunities for growth and learning.

Research conducted by the Barbara Mitchell Centre for Improvement in Education will explore practical solutions to the challenges parents face as they pursue the best possible education for their children. National in scope, the Centre will initially focus on three areas: improvement in teacher effectiveness, improvement in essential curricula, and increased school choice for families.

According to Randstad Canada, in order to achieve work-life balance, it's important for workers to set boundaries between their work and personal lives as the line between work and home continues to blur.

The strategy outlines three policy issues which should form the basis of skills policies: firstly to develop relevant skills to meet current and emerging economic needs; secondly to “activate” the skills held by working-age unemployed by integrating under-represented groups into the labour market and removing demand-side barriers to hiring; and thirdly “putting skills to effective use,” ensuring that skills are used effectively in employment by enlarging demand of skills.

The third annual Essential Skills Day will take place September 21, 2012, to raise awareness of the nine essential skills as defined by the Government of Canada and the importance of training in the workplace.

Skills/Compétences Canada, a not-for-profit organization that actively promotes careers in skilled trades and technologies, has announced that the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry (UA Canada) has signed on as a presenting sponsor of the next three Skills Canada National Competitions.

Here are three literacy ideas all based on the theme of the Olympic Torch Relay. You can read about how a school held its own Torch Relay event; try writing a shape poem in the shape of a Torch; or role-play a thrilling story about a surprise hidden in a box – you can even make up your own ending to the story.

"If work-life balance is important to you, define what that means and weigh the job against realistic criteria that is within your control. And remember, that criteria may change, and so the may the job a few years down the road."

Certificates are the fastest-growing U.S. college credential, with more than 1 million awarded nationally in 2010, according to a recent study from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.

Business owners in Alberta (73.3) and Saskatchewan (72.5) have collectively been the most optimistic in Canada for 11 consecutive months, while entrepreneurs in Manitoba (65.9), New Brunswick (65.7) and British Columbia (65.6) are comfortably above the national average, and those in Newfoundland and Labrador (61.3) are close to average.

Twenty-first century learning was the defining theme of the Halifax meeting, where ministers exchanged information on a number of education-related topics.