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Vancouver Island University keeps adult basic education classes on hold

Administrator says not enough interest expressed for program to bring it back to campus
ABE
UPGRADING QUESTION: Vancouver Island University is currently only focusing on online programs for education upgrading. Chris Bolster photo

Citing low student interest, Vancouver Island University’s Powell River campus will not be returning classroom-based adult basic education to Powell River in the near future.

The university discontinued its Powell River classroom-based program in 2016 due to dwindling student numbers. Over the past two months, since the provincial government reinstated tuition-free status for the upgrading classes, staff at the Powell River campus have been collecting expressions of interest from potential students looking to enrol in a classroom-based ABE program, said campus administrator Greg Cran.

“Even with reinstating the provincial funding for students, we've only had a small number, somewhere between three and five, who have expressed interest,” said Cran. “For us to offer the course, we would need to pay an instructor or instructors; it's been problematic.”

ABE is a program for students to either complete their adult high school graduation or take courses that allow them to move into college-level classes.

Despite not offering the classroom-based program, Cran said there are still options for students who want to go back to school to learn. He added that the university is trying to employ creative solutions for students.

“What we've been doing is working together with the school district to see how we can support them, given the resources we have available,” said Cran.

Meanwhile, VIU continuing education instructor Eva Van Loon, who has been teaching an English class mostly to newcomers to Canada, said the classroom-based ABE program would work well for her students. She said her class is ending this month and the university has no plans to renew it. The same students would be funded by the government if an ABE class were available.

School District 47 principal of continuing education Rod Perrault said the school district is working closing with the university now to provide educational opportunities for students who may have not had a good experience with school, or those who are hard to employ.

Perrault administers a school-district funded program out of the university campus called Connect Ed for students who have not yet graduated, are between the ages of 16 and 75, and looking to complete their high school diploma. Teacher James Hanson works with students one-on-one from 11 am to 5 pm two days a week at the university campus.

“There was a time when the school district focused on students who hadn’t graduated from high school and VIU focused on English language learners and students who had graduated, but needed to upgrade,” said Perrault. “We decided to work together.”

Perrault added the students enrolled in the program tend to be those who are looking at completing high school and then moving to a career preparation program at VIU.

Cran said the university’s partnerships with the school district and Tla’amin Nation’s Ahms Tah Ow school in Tishosem allow it to be more creative in its problem-solving approach for finding funding for students. He added that there are grants for aboriginal students wanting to enter into the trades.

For students who have already graduated, but need to upgrade basic literacy skills, Cran said the university has seen success with classes offered online. He said the university has created a number of online classes to help provide foundational english and mathematical skills for students who might live outside the region.

Cran said that while some people may consider the online classes to be subpar to classroom-based learning, the university has seen the classes filling up.

“People are recognizing they can actually get to where they want to go," said Cran, "without having to travel a great distance."