Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 17, 1990 TAG: 9004170462
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MARGARET CAMLIN NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Some are mothers and fathers who don't want their children to follow in their footsteps and drop out. They want to be a good example.
In only a year, the number of adult education classes in the New River Valley has jumped from eight to 15 - not including classes taught at four regional jails.
Free classes are being offered day and night - in schools, churches, town halls, community centers and the jails.
Federal, state and local money pays for the classes; last year, Virginia spent $2.1 million on adult education - 100 times more than in 1987.
The stark fact is that nearly one quarter of Virginia's adults are functionally illiterate. This means the ability to read at the ninth-grade level.
And the percentage is higher in Southwest Virginia, including the New River Valley, than any other region in the state.
"Right now we need to serve at least 66,000 in the New River Valley," said Linda Mullins of New River Community College, the state's resource person for adult education in this area.
Some adults are going back to school to learn to read and write for the first time.
Others are returning to earn the credits they lack for a high school diploma, or to work toward a GED, the general educational development certificate that is the equivalent of a diploma.
Adult education is happening in school classrooms, computer labs, at work, and even in private homes when Literacy Volunteers of the New River Valley are involved.
Some industries are transforming their conference rooms into classrooms, realizing that ill-educated workers often can't keep pace with changing technology.
A few employers, including Hoechst-Celanese of Giles County, are coming up with incentives to draw workers back for more education.
The industry is offering basic education classes at its Narrows plant this spring, with help from New River Community College.
It will pay workers an hour of "straight time" for each two-hour class.
And it will reward those who complete the 12-week course with a dictionary, a newspaper subscription and a book for each family member who gives moral support.
The union president endorsed the project, and 11 workers - most of them women - have enrolled so far.
Alfred Katz, employee development superintendent, believes there will be more.
Last year, Litton Polyscientific in Blacksburg offered free classes on-site for 20 employees wanting to earn the General Equivalency Diploma.
The Town of Blacksburg offered two GED classes and a course for bus drivers, since new federal regulations require commercial drivers to get their licenses renewed by April 1992.
For the first time, drivers must read the test, which is written on the 11th-grade level.
In Pulaski County, both the School Board and the Board of Supervisors are offering $100 to county employees who earn a diploma or GED.
New River Community College is doing the same for its employees.
A computer lab at Pulaski County High School is open to adult students weekday nights, and about 70 people are using them for basic education or preparing for the GED tests.
Not all adults who quit school, however, want to go back. And not all companies want better educated workers, according to Chris Simpkins of New River Valley Community College's office of continuing education.
"Some employers say `I don't want these workers to be educated'," Simpkins says.
"They say, `I'll have to pay them more' or `I'll lose them.'"
"Some people are very happy not being able to read - they're very prosperous," Mullins said.
"We don't want to make the decision for them. We feel like people are in charge of their own lives - we just try to make it available to them."
by CNB