MHA questions status of Adult Basic Education delivery

For Immediate Release

January 21, 2014

MHA questions status of Adult Basic Education delivery

St. John’s—St. John’s North MHA Dale Kirby is questioning the current status of Adult Basic Education (ABE) delivery in the province. In December, the Premier suggested that ABE programs are “available and accessible to the people of the province who want to use it,” however, neither the Premier nor the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills have provided information to the public about ABE student enrollments or graduations since the program was cancelled at College of the North Atlantic last year.

 “The Premier has said that she has been vindicated by the results of the changes to ABE delivery but no evidence of improved results has been released,” says Kirby. “I have written to the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills and asked for an update on the recent ABE program enrollment and graduation numbers. I have also asked for recent statistics on the numbers of individuals who are receiving financial assistance through Skills Development Program funding.”

Kirby has also asked the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills whether his Department has acted on ABE recommendations made in the $150,000 “Business Transformation” report completed by former PC Party candidate John Noseworthy. That report pointed out “The department does not track ABE clients to determine whether the intervention resulted in either the client transitioning through ABE or whether the client made a permanent attachment to the labour market”.

“Last year, government indicated that the $150,000 Noseworthy report would be used to guide and inform necessary changes in the Department of Advanced Education and Skills,” says Kirby. “The Minister should report whether his Department has implemented measures to determine whether ABE clients are successfully transitioning through their programs and making a permanent attachment to the labour market.”

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For more information, please contact:

Dale Kirby, MHA

dalekirby@gov.nl.ca

Tel: 709-729-6921