Further to Trevor Flynn’s moving experience of a student caught in the BC ABE tuition fee crisis (The Tyee, January 15, 2015, and posted earlier in this blog), students who face multiple barriers to education are well represented in BC’s post-secondary ABE programs. Read a sampling of Vancouver Community College, Basic Education Department (Fundamental Level ABE) student profiles excerpted from Re-Framing the Conversation: Respecting Adult Basic Education in BC.
In BC post-secondary, Fundamental Level ABE students have access to stable, quality programming tailored to their unique needs. Upon completion of Basic Education at VCC, students also have access to further upgrading, up to and including high school graduation, training programs, practicums, and better employment prospects.
Click below to access the full document.
Re-Framing the Conversation – Respecting Adult Basic Education in BC (Dec 2014)
Adult Basic Education is a Basic Right 
One of the most frustrating aspects of advocating for ABE (and literacy students in particular) is that policy-makers don’t seem to understand who our students are. I am currently in a back-and-forth with my MLA, trying to get her to understand why online, “distributed learning” ABE courses aren’t a substitute for face-to-face classes, and in fact create a significant barrier for many ABE students.
All this is in addition to the difficulty I’m having trying to explain why the “easy” online application for the Adult Upgrading Grant will actually deter many students from applying in the first place.
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