This article appeared today in The Tyee, written by Katie Hyslop. It outlines the devils in the details regarding the cuts to ABE, noting that students enrolled in school district ABE are not eligible for the Adult Upgrading Grant, and that the $9 million the Ministry of Education will save in not funding ABE will be re-invested in the K – 12 system.
The article focus on the consequences of this policy for a person with health difficulties who experienced interrupted schooling. Do you have stories of how learners and local communities will be effected by the cuts to ABE? Please post in the comments section or let us know and we can post the story for you.
Adult Basic Education is a Basic Right 
Thanks for this forum, Suzanne. I have a student I have been talking to the last few days who is really distressed about the coming tuition fees. He has been working at his English 12 for over a year now, but he has mental health as well as other health problems, and often has to step away from school to get well. He has already been told that he will not get AUG funding because he is taking too long to finish his course. This is a brilliant student, who, when healthy again, could go on to University and bring a lot to our communities. He is getting cut off at the knees, and I can do nothing but tell him I am on his side, and I will fight.
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Thanks for sharing this story Taryn. This issue of time to completion is becoming very important in this whole policy mix because as Lynn Horvat posted on this blog, students who take longer to complete their studies for all kinds of reasons will have least access to the Adult Upgrading Grant and will experience the consequences of ‘cream skimming’.
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