It is virtually impossible to separate literacy and work. People learn at work and they also learn for work. People seek training in order to find, keep, upgrade and change jobs.
In our changing economy and rapidly evolving world, the skills adults need to be successful at work are expanding beyond the basic skills of reading, writing and math. Language, computer, problem-solving and other work-related skills are becoming valued and more necessary to get and retain a job.
The OLC leads a Learning for Work Strategy in Ontario, which highlights literacy and essential skills as fundamentally important to a productive workplace, an engaged workforce and a prosperous Ontario. Key to this Strategy’s success is a partnership approach between business, labour, government and literacy groups.
The Learning for Work Strategy makes learning opportunities possible for workers – and potential workers – and addresses the concerns of business and government with respect to productivity, economic development and social responsibility.
Since 1994… the OLC has played a key leadership role in bringing together literacy organizations, employers and unions.
Since 2004… the Ontario Literacy Coalition (OLC) has lead a partnership of employers, unions, literacy organizations as well as adult education and training partners under a Provincial Advisory Committee for Workplace and Workforce Literacy.
Since 2008… the OLC and its partners have been working with the provincial government to reintroduce Workplace Literacy in Ontario and develop an overall Learning for Work Strategy.
Support this work by becoming a member of the OLC.
Skills for the 21st Century
February 3, 2010 — ontarioliteracycoalitionIn these current economic times, the issue of the lack of skilled labour is increasingly coming to the forefront. Workers who have been laid off are finding that the new jobs available require higher skills levels. In a recent article by the Globe and Mail, Rick Miner, the past president of Toronto’s Seneca College and a former management professor, claims that there “will be an expanding pool of unskilled workers looking for jobs and an even larger number of companies that cannot find the workers they require.”
In its presentation to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, the OLC pointed out the value of increased and sustained funding for adult learning programs: “Investment in literacy and skills training generates a payback for individuals, but it also accelerates growth in the economy and in productivity, and improves the government’s fiscal balance.”
To help Ontarians find the Employment Services they need, Employment Ontario has released fact sheets for each region of the province . To view the sheets, click here.
Nowhere more than in Ontario has the current recession signalled a profound restructuring in the economy. The demand for skills upgrading in this new economy cannot be ignored if Ontario wishes to compete globally and increase its productivity.