Highlights of the History of Adult Basic Education in British Columbia’s Public Post-Secondary System
1960 The federal government passed the Technical and Vocational Training Assistance Act, enabling it to partner with the provinces to fund capital costs for vocational training facilities. Many institutes of technology created through this Act were later converted to community colleges.
1963 The provincial government amended The Public Schools Act and established “regional colleges”.
1967 The federal government introduced the Adult Occupational Training Act to provide short-term retraining for unemployed and underemployed workers. This program revealed that most people in need of vocational training did not have the basic academic skills needed to participate in vocational programs.
1973 The federal government funded 1) the Basic Training and Skills Development (BTSD) which provided upgrading for students in grades K-12 and enabled them to gain the prerequisites for vocational training, and 2) Basic Job Readiness Training (BJRT) programs to help adult learners, who needed more than short-term training programs, gain literacy and life skills, job search techniques and work experience leading to employment.
1976 A provincial discussion paper, Helping to Develop a Provincial Continuing and Community Education Policy made recommendations to MEd on continuing and community education policy.
The Report of the Committee on Continuing and Community Education in BC highlighted ABE as a “high priority special program”.
1977 The government passed the new comprehensive College and Institute Act.
1979 The inaugural meeting of the Adult Basic Education Association of British Columbia (ABEABC) was held. The first of its kind in Canada, ABEABC was comprised of ABE and literacy instructors and community members who wanted to help build the quality of programming available in the province.
1982 The government report Ministerial Policy on the Provision of Adult Basic Education Programs including English Language Training in the Public Education System of British Columbia stated that it was the responsibility of the ministry to provide, to adult citizens and landed immigrants residing in the province, reasonable access to high quality ABE programs.
It also noted that responsibility for the development, administration and delivery of ABE programs resided with the colleges, the institutes and the public schools.
1983 The ABE articulation process was launched in British Columbia. The ABE Articulation Development Committee produced a provincial framework and common terminology as a foundation to the process by early 1985.
The ABE Articulation Steering Committee was established to oversee the implementation and on-going process of articulation across the post-secondary system. The ABE Steering Committee established working committees in each of the major discipline areas, with members from 18 colleges and the Open Learning Agency. The discipline working committees developed generic outlines and a grid of equivalencies by subject and course for the participating institutions.
1986 Responsibility for education of all adults except those in secondary schools, the General Education Development (GED®) challenge exam, and some adult English Language Training programs, was transferred to the newly created Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development (ALMD) from MEd.
The Ministry of Advanced Education and Job Training validated the articulation process by producing the ABE Provincial Diploma to be awarded to any student completing the requirements for secondary school graduation as laid out by the ABE framework.
1987 The ABE Framework and Diploma were presented to the provincial universities and British Columbia Institute of Technology. These institutions recognized the Diploma as an official credential for entry into university studies.
1988 ALMD Minister established the Provincial Literacy Advisory Committee (PLAC) to develop a literacy strategy.
Tuition fees were abolished for adult learners who had not graduated and were enrolled in MEd’s ABE programs. This policy was one of the recommendations from the 1988 Report of the Royal Commission on Education.
1991 Fundamental ABE became tuition free as a result of the recommendations in the Provincial Literacy Advisory Committee’s 1989 Report.
The ABE Steering Committee implemented a review of the whole ABE Articulation process. This culminated in a report presented to the Steering Committee in June 1992.
1992-1995
In 1992, The Rivers Report identified some difficulties in the delivery of ABE programs by MEd and ALMD and that same year, The Faris Report offered recommendations for overcoming those difficulties.
The 1993 Articulation Handbook included a revised statement on the purpose of articulation.
In 1994, The government established the MEd/ALMD Joint Committee on ABE to conduct a review and make recommendations on: the two systems’ funding and fee structures; a common credential; records management, transferability and certificate granting; articulation of ABE courses; program quality, evaluation, and guidelines for good practice; and in addition, ensure cooperation between the two ministries on issues related to ABE.
In 1995, a Ministry of Education/Ministry of Skills, Training and Labour Joint Committee on Adult Basic Education made recommendations that included, among others, a common adult graduation credential and an articulation process between school district adult programs and the public post-secondary institutions.
1998 ABE became tuition-free in the PSE system and for online learners through LearnNowBC.
The ABE Transitions Project was set up between MEd and ALMD. The overall goal of the project was to work towards a coordinated ABE system for BC by developing a more integrated, learner-centred approach to ABE programming. Two of the specific objectives of the project were the implementation of a common credential for adults and improved articulation of courses.
1999 The British Columbia Adult Graduation Diploma (BCAGD) – “The Adult Dogwood”– became the common credential for ABE learners and would replace the old Adult Dogwood and the ABE Provincial Diploma. This credential allowed adult learners to earn a graduation diploma with a mix of appropriate courses from either or both systems – MEd/ALMD.
2000 Amendments were made to the School Act, College and Institute Act, Institute of Technology Act, and Open Learning Agency Act to accommodate the granting of the BCAGD. Amendments were made to the School Act and the Independent School Act to recognize the credential as well.
New developments such as the Provincial “e-merge initiative” for ABE on-line delivery (2000), and the introduction of block funding (ABE funding was rolled into the block funding model) in the PSE system (2002) presented new challenges for ABE in the province.
2003 The Ministry gave public post-secondary institutions autonomy to charge tuition fees for students taking ABE courses if they already had a high school diploma. However, fundamental level ABE (literacy) programs and employment preparation programs were to remain tuition-free.
2004 The Premier’s Advisory Panel on Literacy was created to assess the literacy challenges in BC, highlight the most urgent needs and develop recommendations for a provincial literacy strategy that will address those challenges.
2007 In response to the recommendations made by the Premier’s Advisory Panel on Literacy, the provincial ministries encouraged the PSE and K-12 systems to work together to improve the planning and coordination of ABE and community adult literacy programs in their respective regions.
In September 2007, the Province announced that all students had access to tuition-free ABE in the public post-secondary institutions beginning in January 2008.
2008 ABE courses in both the PSE and K-12 systems became tuition free for all learners, regardless of their graduation status.
2015 Effective January 1, 2015, public post-secondary institutions had the option to reinstate tuition fees for ABE, up to a maximum tuition cost of $1,600 per semester of full-time studies.
Effective May 1, 2015, school districts had the ability to charge graduated adults for academic upgrading courses, but they could still access tuition-free foundational level courses.
2017 The Province announced the re-instatement of the tuition-free policy for domestic students accessing ABE programs in the public post-secondary and secondary (K-12 school districts) systems, effective September 1, 2017.
