launched 1990 has been declared inter- national Year of Literacy by the United Nations. The B.C. Pro- vincial Advisory Committee was put together in to address the problem of illiteracy. ‘py Betty Barton’ Last week in the Terrace Public Library, residents of Ter- race and area interested in form- ing a local literacy group met to -discuss the problem. An estimated 20 percent of the adult population in this region is func- tionally illiterate, as are over 360,000 adults in the province of B.C..A core group of the par- ticipants at last week’s meeting, - had met initially in October 1989 to begin a plan of action to in- _-volve the entire community in a literacy campaign. The philosophy-is, “if you’re in on the ground floor, you feel an ownership and a commitment to the success of a program.” The group met again in Novem- ber. with interested Prince Rupert residents. The next step was to organize.a study of the needs of iliterate people in this area. Wednesday | night’s ‘guest speaker Audrey Thomas. was. contracted by “the provincial government’.and the federal Secretary of State to do this survey in four areas of B.C. The Northwest had the opportunity to voice its concerns in inter- views with her on January 16 and 17 in Terrace, and Jan. 18 in Kitimat. During her two days in Ter- race, Thomas interviewed in- dividuals who were considering - literacy’ programs, who had dropped out of literacy pro- grams, and people presently at- tending literacy classes. Thomas points out, ‘It’s taken a lot of courage for these people to come forward.”’ Only one in twenty illiterate people actually enter into pro- grams. Of these, 20 percent drop out. Thomas points out that we have to make people- realize they’re not dumb, even if they can’t read. . Audrey. Thomas began this project in East Vancouver in the fall of 1989. She then went on to Vancouver Island. She has determined that financial need is often a barrier to people taking or completing literacy courses; the bureaucracy in the southern regions discourages many peo- ple; people are embarrassed to .admit to their children or friends that they are illiterate; they have low self-esteem; personal lifestyle or outlook. affects some students’ ability to succeed — they require everything to “click”’, or they can’t learn. Thomas is in. the process of identifying barriers to learning (difficulties which have to be ‘available to all ‘regardless of financial status, overcome in order to learn), and. -is making recommendations on possible new strategies. for literacy programs, based on the results of her surveys in the four areas. Thomas’s personal con- cern is that the government will put up the money for these il eracy programs, then, without an explanation of why people don’t attend the classes, the government will eventually drop the funding. ‘Some of the recommendations to be made to the Provincial Ad- visory Committee on Literacy include: expanding the volunteer literacy program, creating: a “downtown learning center to combine literacy programs and English as a Second Language; provide programs at flexible hours; make the programs people, mobility, or level of need; andto fj increase the level of awareness ‘about the problems of illiteracy _in the community. _ After last week’s meeting in Terrace, the group concluded that tutoring and assessment of - prospective clients.seem to be the - most immediate concerns. There is a great need for assessment — services. At present, there is only . one such facility in Victoria. “We need specialized tutors on hand to deal with adult clients who have specialized lear- ning needs,’? states Andrew Scruton, director of special ser- vices for School District 88. He went on to explain that emo- tional overlaps are difficult to deal with when assessing adults, which is why. counselling in con- | junction with the assessments is so important. Thomas explains that there is a high incidence of learning disabilities in adults who are il- literate. ‘‘We really need to look at the assessment and counsell- ing of adults, before we try to place them in a literacy program or with a tutor.’’ Sadie Parnell of the Kermode Friendship Cen- tre added that one-on-one tutor- ing would work better for. the native population, but also pro- bably for other learners, They feel better if only one person (the tutor) knows their level of literacy. . Elizabeth Snyder from North- west Community College says that people are always calling NWCC to indicate that they would like to tutor, but require | training. Tutor training doesn’t yet exist in B.C. But Project Literacy.-Terrace has decided to try to identify people in the Ter-. - race area who are tutor trainers or- who could work together with - other people who have skills in different areas of tutor training. Four. or five people could do joint training sessions for people... _interested in .being. trained. as - Audrey Thomas (etanding) recently completed a survey of the Northwest to determine how many people In the region are illiterate and why they don’t get involved in ilteracy programs. Elizabeth Snyder will be the coordinator for a new locally-based literacy program that will use one-on-one tutoring. tutors. Thomas encouraged the group to have a demonstration project. to present to the provincial Ministry of Advanced Educa- tion and Job Training, in April, to solicit funds the next time they are allocated. The ministry will fund feasibility studies, and resources, Anyone fitting this bill or will- ing to be molded into a tutor trainer role is asked to attend the next Project Literacy Terrace meeting, to be held on Thurs- day, Feb. 1 at 7:30 p.m. in the Terrace Public Library base- ‘ment. Contact Elizabeth Snyder at NWCC, 635-6511 for further information. ‘In addition. to co-ordinating a tutor training program, a sub committee will present a rough draft constitution of the group as a non-profit society. Once the society is formally in place, it can apply for funding to dif- ferent government ministries. District starts program for students to help teachers A course proposal for Cale- donia Senior Secondary School that will allow students in- terested in becoming educators to help their teachers prepare classroom material was accepted by the School District 88-board Jan. 9. Called Teaching Assistant, the: course idea was. presented to the board by district Director of In- struction Harold Cox. He said it - will-let students who plan to go into:a, teaching career. gain first- - hand. experience with..some. of- the work teachers do. He said the course would involve a relatively small number of stu- dents. It is currently available for students at Hazelton Sec- ondary School and schools in several other districts, Cox said. . Cox’s presentation followed one by district administrator of Special Services Andrew Scruton regarding an application for federal money to. support a work-study program, and both trustees and administration ap- peared surprised when Hazelton trustee Val Napoleon suggested the two programs could be com- bined. She asked if the Teaching Assistant students could be viewed as work experience par- ticipants, with the district acting as the employer, In that scenario the federal government would provide part of the cost for the Teaching Assistant program. Cox and Scruton were asked to research the idea and report: to the board’s. next Committee . - of the Whole meeting.’