Editor, The News:
As a retired high school principal, I was flabbergasted when I read that the Ministry of Education is going to eliminate funding adults who wish to upgrade their high school courses.
I appreciate that these folks have already graduated, but many students graduate with minimum qualifications. It has always been that way, as not all students learn at the same rate.
Many of these folks leave high school and seek employment. Some are lucky and get entry level jobs, while many are not so fortunate. There comes a time when many of these people determine that they need to upgrade their courses, so they might enter post-secondary for additional training. A number of these students find they require a higher level math course to move on, or, in the case of courses like Biology 12, find that after five years, post-secondary institutions require that they retake the course to be current.
Throughout the province, school districts, through their continuing education divisions, have offered these courses and thousands of students a year in B.C. avail themselves of this opportunity.
To remove this option will simply financially prevent most of these adults from taking these courses, thus ensuring that the provincial government continues to be no friend to those trying to improve themselves and contribute more to our economy.
Ian Strachan
Maple Ridge