Ontario’s
new high stakes “literacy testing” discriminates against
ESL students
Ontario students must now pass
the Ontario student literacy requirement
in order to earn their high school diploma. Without the diploma,
virtually every post-secondary educational option is closed: not
only
college and university, but also apprenticeship programs.
The high stakes testing is not
geared to remediation but rather to
screening out students. The students typically screened out are
those
who have been deprived equal opportunity in their education, including
students for whom English is a second language. In 2003-2004,
58% of
ESL students failed the OSSLT.
The high stakes literacy testing
does little or nothing to address the
problems of those who have low levels of literacy. It simply closes
further educational opportunity for these students and encourages
them
to drop out prematurely.
If you are interested in
joining the action and representing the
interests of ESL students, please contact Helen Poon at helen@ccnctoronto.ca
or
phone (416) 596-0833
Education Doesn't
Equal Employment
Date: Wednesday, March
9, 2005
Time: 7:00 pm
Place: AMNI Centre, Room 548, U of T Faculty of
Social Work
246 Bloor St. West -- Located Near St. George subway station, Bedford
Exit Underemployment. Globalization. What does this mean to youth?
On Wednesday, March 9, 2005, you're invited to attend "Education
=/ employment" a discussion on youth (under)employment (having the
skills but not able to get a good job to use those skills), labour
issues (your rights as a worker), globalization and how that affects
jobs in Toronto and newcomers, exploitation by employers and what
you can do about it.
Admission is FREE. Please RSVP to barnett@ccnctoronto.ca
The panelists are:
Emily Chan, Community worker, Worker's Action Centre
Sandra Tam, Doctoral student, UofT Faculty of Social Work and Women's
Studies
Rick Sin, Researcher
Yiman Ng, Health promoter, Queen West Community Health Centre
This event is organized by the Chinese Canadian National Council
Toronto Chapter (CCNCTO) and sponsored by the AMNI Centre, Faculty
of Social Work, University of Toronto
