In Context: 5 Web Perspectives On A Story In The News

Federal funding cut for the Canadian Council on Education

(The Globe and Mail) The federal government announced last week that it was cutting funding for the Canadian Council on Education. The council was founded in 2004 but according to Alex Usher, a consultant on higher education for the Educational Policy Institute, never found its footing. This became particularly apparent after the Liberal government that created it lost its parliamentary majority in 2006. Usher says the council was rejected by the provinces, and was unable to demonstrate its relevance to most Canadians. But does Canada need a national strategy on education?

1.

Message from the President and CEO of the Canadian Council on Education

Message from the President and CEO of the Canadian Council on Education
This letter is the response from Dr. Paul Cappon, the president of the Canadian Council on Education, to the Government of Canada's decision to stop funding the organization. While acknowledging the organization will have to scale back its operations, Cappon commits to fulfilling its current commitments. Cappon also highlights the organization's accomplishments, including the composite learning index, their annual reports on the state of learning, their partnership with Aboriginal organizatons, and their report on the future of adult literacy.

2.

Canadian Composite Learning Index

Canadian Composite Learning Index
One of the Canadian Council on Learning's major initiatives, the Composite Learning Index measured "Canada's progress in lifelong learning". The Index is based on the belief that learning throughout people's lives is central to their individual success, and the index measures how different communities fare at accomplishing this across the country. The concept of lifelong learning stems from the idea that learning is not solely what takes place in the classroom setting, but also a person's participation in community life, personal development and physical well being. The CLI claims to connect a community's learning conditions with its social and economic well-being.

3.

Canadian Ministers of Education: Joint Statement on Learn Canada 2020

Canadian Ministers of Education: Joint Statement on Learn Canada 2020
The Canadian Ministers of Education's Learn Canada 2020 program provides a framework through which provincial and territorial ministers of education will try to improve Canada's education system over the next decade. The program focuses on lifelong learning, from early childhood learning and development through to adult learning and skills development. The key areas that require attention and improvement are highlighted, as well as the key partners who will contribute.

4.

British National Strategy on Education

British National Strategy on Education
The National Strategy section of the British Department for Children, Schools, and Families details the comprehensive strategy for almost every area of the British education system. The site has less focus on adult education than the Canadian Council on Education, but details different strategies by subject, and has sections devoted to ethnicity, social class and gender.

5.

American Council on Learning

American Council on Learning
The United States does not have a national education strategy. However, the American Council on Learning is the major coordinating body for all of the country's higher education institutions. On their site, they outline the strategy goals of their organizations. These include developing strategies to increase educational access for non-traditional learning, shaping public policy on issues of importance to colleges and universities and developing entrance tests for graduate school. The site also links to the organization's annual reports, as well as information on all of the programs and services offered by the organization.