nounced by Prime Minister Mul-

roney mean for Terrace? Secre- |

tary of State Lucien Bouchard

said that only one or two miilion -

dollars annually had been ear-
marked for the problem, until a

major study. by Southam News :
showed 24 per cent of Canadians -

are functionally illiterate. About

17. percent of B.C. residents.”
can’t read the instructions ona -
medicine bottle, fillin a job ap-

plication form,: or do some of
the other basic tasks necessary to

function well in our print-based

society.

by Charlynn Toews

The federal government -an-
nounced earlier this month that
$12 million will be available for
the first of the five-year pro-

gram, about half of which will —
go to joint federal-provincial .

programs. In B.C., the provin-
cial and federal governments are.
splitting $225,000.

This money will be divided
Among four projects: the Adult
Literacy Contact Centre, located
in Delta; Literacy Learners’
Conferences; and two new in-
itiatives, Literacy in the
workplace and a volunteer tutor
evaluation instrument. There’s
also a 16-member advisory
group with the mandate to

design a provincial strategy to
deal with the problem of adult
literacy in the province.

Terrace’s literacy programs
are available through the North-
west Community College and its

‘Another 45 percent of the

federal government’s funding is
‘targeted for non-government,
private and: volunteer ‘literacy,

groups, but Noonan was told

‘that although local groups can

“The average person will have seven totally dif-

ferent jobs in a lifetime, and if you can’t read,

| ul is s difficult to retrain.”’ |
John Noonan; Adult. Basic.
_ Education Director, N We CC.

Adult Basic Education (ABE)
program. Classes. also include
English as a second language,
job preparation, upgrading,
high school equivalency tests,
and a tutorial service. ABE
director John Noonan said he
wasn’t sure exactly where the
money would be going, ‘‘but
hopefully not for more studies.’’

He commented on some of the
projects proposed for B.C.
‘The Learners’ Conferences are
very worthwhile in larger centers
where there are many programs
available. The workplace project
may have difficulty getting off
the ground, because the employ-
ee will have to say, ‘Excuse me,
boss — I can’t read or write’.’’
He said the college already has
an evaluation instrument for

. volunteer tutors, one developed

in Alberta, that they find very
useful.

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

Notice is hereby given that a Public Hearing will be

held on Thursday, October 6, 1988 at the Thornhill @

Community Centre commencing at 7:30 p.m. to receive |
submissions from all persons who deem their interests |
to be affected by the proposed bylaw: “Regional
District of Kitlmat-Stikine Electoral Area E and
| Specified Portion of Electoral Area C Zoning Bylaw No. §
37, Amendment Bylaw No. 268, 19838.” This is the
second Public Hearing In regards to this rezoning §

application.

In general terms, the purpose of this amending bylaw
is to redesignate: the parcel described as Lot 1, Block 8,
-Plan 6734, District Lot 989, Range 5, Coast. District,

from the High Density

Rural (R1) zone to the

Neighbourhood Commercial (NC) zone.

fReretan
Rezoning

RESGCENT ;
: ee D

FR. NW. 1/4

OF LOT 989

alslelellelel=[

Wz [23.J4)

SEAVER

c

eaten GEGEN

\

Submissions from the public in respect of proposed :
Bylaw No. 268 will be received up to and during the

public hearing.

The proposed bylaw may be inspected at the offices of
the Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine, 300 — 4545
Lazeile Avenue, Terrace, B.C. between the hours of
8:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon and 1 00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., from
Monday through Friday. For further information, phone

635-7251.

Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine

apply, the college is considered
government and therefore is not
eligible. He encouraged other
Terrace groups to apply, saying
the college would offer support
in the way of helping to set up
and in training literacy tutors.
These federal funds (through
Secretary of State) cannot be
used for instructional purposes:
education is under provincial
jurisdiction. Noonan expects
funding might be provided for a
paid co-ordinator, but the tutors
themselves would be volunteers.
Cherie Layne is the resource
co-ordinator at Delta’s Adult
Literacy Contact centre. The
center provides information
about literacy statistics and pro-
grams in the province. She said
having tutors on a voluntary
basis is already common for

Terrace Review — Wednesday, Seprember 28, 1988 7

_ Destination of federal literacy funds unknown
What will the. $110 million for.

many programs. In her opinion,
the money should be spent ‘‘in
the direct delivery of programs,
where people don’t have as
much access to materials, as op-
posed to spending it on ad-
ministration.”

Noonan hopes the funding
will go to grassroots organiza-
tions, where it’s needed; there is
so much to do, he says, especial-
ly in the Northwest. “For years
people could function, and sup-
port their, families at a upper-
middie class level, without
reading and writing, for example
in logging and at Alcan. But

now those jobs are changing,

becoming more mechanized,
The average person will- have
seven totally different jobs in a
lifetime, and if you can’t read, it
is difficult to retrain.’

Noonan said illiteracy is not
assigned to any particular in-
come group, nationality, or
ethnic group: it’s across the
whole strata. He says he knows
of well-paid individuals who
can’t read their paystubs; of suc-
cessful entrepreneurs: who ‘have
fantastic long-term memories
and other techniques to hide
their lack of reading.

Memorial bursary awarded

Margaret Miskelly was
presented with the Nora Langley
Memorial Bursary recently, to
continue her studies leading to a
Bachelor.of Science in Nursing.
$300 is awarded annually to a
Registered Nurse working in the
Skeena Health District who is
taking a course related to nurs-
ing, Caro] Harrison explained.

Miskelly’s studies this year are
focusing on epidemiology, the
study of disease processes. Her
course is being taken through
UBC's distance education pro-
gram. She currently works at the
obstetrics unit at Mills Memorial

Hospital, and she has also earn-
ed Australian accreditation as a
registered midwife.

The memorial bursary honors
the memory of Nora Langely.
She was a senior nurse at the
Skeena Health Unit in Terrace
who worked hard to improve
continuing education for nurses.
She died January 18, 1977,
following a car accident. Since
1978, donations from indivi-

duals and Northwest chapters of _

the Registered Nurses Associa-
tion of B.C. have funded the
bursary.

fu

residents, business people and municipal officials on

Premier Bill Vander Zalm ‘will be in Terrace to meet with

Thursday, September 29th.

Everyone is invited to a “Town Hall” meeting at the

“Let's alk
about
Terrace

District”

On Thursday,
September 29th
1988

- Caledonia Senior Secondary School, 3605 Munroe Street
from 7:30-9:00 p.m. to meet the Premier and discuss issues
of concern in the area. |

For further information
- contact the office of
_ Marilyn Davies
at 635-4215

lie 1

Province of British Columbia |