Posts tagged with preschool.

University graduates who can't read?

Kathy Dobson, March 27, 2009 at 11:24 AM

 

How many university students are unable to read this sentence? According to a report recently published by the Canadian Council on Learning, it might be more than you think.

 

A lot more.

 

In the CCL's report, "Post-Secondary Education in Canada 2008-2009," 20 per cent of university graduates in 2006 were below Level 3 on the prose literary scale (see page 63 for the stats). A Level 3 is considered the minimum literacy level necessary for coping in our society. Below Level 3 means struggling to understand even the simplest text.

 

And the numbers are expected to get even worse.

 

The CCL's report, released last month, predicts the amount of university graduates falling below Level 3 to increase to almost one in four (24%) by 2031. As a comparison, the numbers for non-university post-secondary graduates are 38% (as of 2006) and a predicted 45% for the year 2031.

 

This steady decay of Canada's literacy rates arguably poses an even greater threat to our country's economic future than the current recession.

 

When I first attended university in the early '80s at Concordia University in Montreal, a prerequisite for graduation from the English department included having to write an English language proficiency test. At the time, it was considered a bit of a joke. If I recall correctly, you had about 45 minutes to write a brief essay, and when it was over, you got a pass or fail. As far as I know, very few, if anyone, ever failed.

 

My two oldest are attending the University of Waterloo. By next April they have to write and pass the school's "English Language Proficiency Exam." On the school's website, where it explains and answers questions about the exam, it states that if a student did well in high school English, they should have "no trouble completing this short essay-based examination."

 

So why insist that those who did well - even exceedingly well - in high school English courses, still have to take the test?

 

Because approximately 25% of incoming students, most of whom are from Ontario high schools, are not able to pass the test at Waterloo.

 

The English Language Proficiency Examination (ELPE) at Waterloo requires students to write a 300- to 500-word essay in 50 minutes. This means a four- to five-paragraph essay in response to a choice of topics. Depending on which program you're in, you need a minimum grade of 60-65% to pass.

 

But failing the test doesn't necessarily mean failing university. Like many schools today, the University of Waterloo offers a lot of support for those students who don't pass the test. On the school's website, it states: "You are not alone. There are options for you."

 

Those options - which are available to any student struggling with literacy skills - include free writing clinics and workshops.

 

Yes, we're now playing catch-up at the university level.

 

The CCL reports that although Canadians are more educated now than ever, our literacy skills will continue to erode until we do something to stop it. As it stands now, 40% of our high school graduates "have insufficient reading skills. Two in 10 university graduates, five in 10 adults, and six in 10 immigrants also have insufficient literacy skills."

 

Why are literacy levels in Canada continuing to decline?

 

If you don't already know the words to, Goodnight Moon and Green Eggs and Ham, it might already be too late. According to the Ontario Ministry of Education, the best time for us to begin learning how to read is even before we start kindergarten. Children should be exposed to books and start developing basic reading skills at the preschool level.

 

As parents, like most of us already know, this means we need to be reading to our kids right from the start.

 

Because if we don't, we can't blame the public school system later, when 40% of our kids leave the system functionally illiterate.

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