Barclay Might Have Hit The Nail On The Head

Even though it might be his attempt at satire, and a cheap shot at the tories, he has zeroed in on the problem with education......too many bells and whistles and not attention being paid to basics. Kids should even be allowed access to electronic learning until they have learned the basics. Go into a fast food outlet during a blackout and see the results of our education system.......

And of course we can't discount the campaign being waged by the "literacy lobby" who like most anti groups would perish if their objective is met.

Conservatives going back to basics on literacy
Oct. 7, 2006. 01:00 AM
LINWOOD BARCLAY

While it's true Stephen Harper's government is hacking $17.7 million from adult literacy programs so that it can tell those of us who are able to read that we're going to get more tax cuts, it needs to be pointed out that it is not abandoning the cause of literacy altogether.

The Conservatives remain committed to literacy, but are adapting their approach so that it is more in keeping with their "back to basics" philosophy of government.

"What we wanted to do," wrote Treasury Board president John Baird in a background document, "is zero in on where we could get the best bang for our buck, where the money could be most wisely used."

So the first thing the government did was look at the letters in the alphabet that have proven to be the most efficient.

"Anyone who's watched Wheel Of Fortune knows that when someone has only six letters to pick, they generally go with R, S, T, L, N and E. It's not always those, but it's usually at least a few of them, because you find those letters in a lot of words."

Baird continued, "But what you don't see people picking are V, K, W, Z, X, J, or Q. Those letters, according to our studies, are among the least used."

That's why the government is now only going to fund literacy programs that drop those letters, and instead focus on words composed primarily of the most popular ones. "Right off the bat, we think that'll save $7.2 million."

The government believes it can save another $5 million by cancelling all support for adjectives.

To explain, let's take a look at the following sentence from a spelling exercise: "The boneheaded government is really, really dumb to do this."

Under the Conservative cost-cutting proposal, literacy programs would reduce this to: "The government is dumb."

Writes Baird, "The message is maintained, but expressed more succinctly. Indiscriminate use of adjectives consumes more ink, paper, typing time, etc. It's a completely and totally and monstrously ridiculous misuse of resources."

Next on the hit list were similes and metaphors.

"These have been used, if I may say so, pretty `liberally' in the past, if I may make that tongue-in-cheek comparison," says the Baird document.

"But the use of similes and metaphors is an unnecessary frill. We are quite happy to help people learn to read, but it doesn't have to be fancy."

In the past, a literacy program might ask students to parse the following sentence: "The government has the mental faculties of a pomegranate."

But now, it's more likely students will parse, again, "The government is dumb."

Simile and metaphor cuts are expected to save the government another $3.2 million.

Finally, as part of its stripped-down literacy program, the Conservatives are putting an end to irony.

"That's a very advanced concept for a literacy program of any kind," the Baird report points out.

In the past, students might be asked to read and discuss a story about how a decision taken today to save a few bucks — not helping an adult learn to read, for example — might, in the long run, end up costing more money because the person who never developed this skill can't get a decent job, turns to a life of crime, and ends up becoming a guest of the federal penitentiary system at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

The new version is much more to the point: "Bill wanted to learn to read, but his literacy program was killed, and with the money the government saved, it cut taxes, thereby allowing Bill to help Ray, whom he didn't even know, buy a new big-screen TV, and Ray lived happily ever after, at least until they cancelled Fear Factor."

Email: lbarclay@thestar.ca.

Literacy Group Lobbyists

The ugly bias of the "literacy" lobby

Friday, October 6. 2006

'Literacy' lobby using phoney scare tactics

The federal Tories have slashed funding for adult literacy programs, leaving millions of illiterate adults out in the cold.

It's a compelling story. And I can see why some Canadians are up in arms over this mean-spirited decision by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Shame the story isn't true.

In fact, in Manitoba, not a single adult literacy program will have its funding cut.

That's because adult literacy programs -- which are delivered by a wide range of organizations, including adult learning centres -- are funded by the province, not Ottawa.

And a spokeswoman for Manitoba Education Minister Peter Bjornson confirmed to the Sun this week that none of the programs they fund will be cut.

In other words, virtually all the adult literacy programs in Manitoba that now exist will continue to exist. And anyone who wants to learn how to read can still access the same programs.

It's not exactly the story you heard over the past few days, is it?

That's because the "literacy" lobby is a powerful one and it's been using misinformation to scare people and to further their cause -- mostly for self-preservation reasons.

Posted by Editor