This section discusses some basic features of the following Nunavut and NWT workplace and workforce literacy stakeholders: government, employers, colleges, and Nunavut and NWT Literacy Councils. At the end of the section we briefly outline some common features of existing collaboration models – stakeholder partnerships in other jurisdictions.
The next section, ‘Nunavut and NWT Social, Economic and Cultural Context’, provides details about the main stakeholders – workers.
What priority do stakeholders put on workplace and workforce literacy? How do they understand what is workplace and workforce literacy? What capacity do they have to participate? How do they work together?
Governments, businesses and colleges seem to want to use skills development and job training programs to improve the literacy skills of workers who lack essential skills; who have trouble with written materials. Many Nunavut and NWT so-called workplace literacy programs are, in fact, employee skill development programs.
The 2004 IALSS Footnote 6 results clearly show that stakeholders tend to develop and implement programs that increase the skills of people who already have skills. We lack programs that help people build essential skills, to enlarge the labour pool of potential workers.
Most Nunavut and NWT adult education and training programs exclude a significant number of people because they have poor literacy skills. And these people have few or no alternatives to access programs to develop these essential skills.
Space is another important factor. Many communities already lack space in the learning centre, have no other available space to offer a program, and have no housing to offer potential educators that may be hired to develop and deliver a program.
Return to note 6 2004 International Adult Literacy Skills Survey.