VIU landed a sizable grant to bolster programs to assist post secondary ESL students in four program areas. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

pathways to career goals

Million dollar grant helping VIU’s adult education and ESL programming

Jun 5, 2023 | 5:24 PM

NANAIMO — A significant grant is designed to better equip students for in-demand careers.

A $3.8 million funding boost from the provincial government will go to a variety of post-secondary institutions for Adult Basic Education and English Language Learning Pathways programs at numerous institutions.

Vancouver Island University received the most of the total amount, an even $1 million.

Jeannie Maltesen, dean of the faculty of academic and career preparation at VIU, told NanaimoNewsNOW the money will be split evenly between the four main areas of healthcare, early childhood education and technology and trades to better prepare students for the workforce.

“We are embedding curriculum into the courses that would normally seem generic…if they’re taking Math 11 or English 12, we’re actually putting in assignments that are more relevant to the pathway of the student. If they’re going into ECE for example, they would be doing assignments…would be geared towards early childhood education.”

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The money awarded this year is a substantial increase rom the $561,000 given to VIU for Pathways last year.

Students who qualify for the program meet with a coordinator to build a lesson plan and identify how they’ll get to where they want to be.

The program focuses on adults looking to upgrade their courses or students without the necessary English skills to work locally.

A key part of the VIU program is the establishment of smaller learning groups among like-students.

“Which students in which classes are heading in the same direction, [pulling] those students together as a learning pod so they build relationship with each other, study groups, they do a variety of things together because they’re going to be with one another as they move into their next level of program.”

Maltesen added they also tailor coursework for it to be more applicable to the students.

“Relevant curriculum, relevant learning to what the student’s interested in, it’s a critical component. We hear sometimes students say ‘when am I ever going to use this math?’ Making it practical is basically adult education 101, you need to make sure it’s relevant for the learner because they need to be able to apply it pretty immediately.”

Eleven other post-secondary institutions received funding, including North Island College with a $249,973 grant.

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