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November 25, 2004 Ottawa — The Canadian Council on Learning (CCL) took an important first step to helping improve learning across the country by announcing its Knowledge Centres at a Newsmaker Breakfast today.
Created through an agreement with the federal government's department of Human Resources and Skills Development, CCL intends to promote a Canada-wide learning culture by reporting progress on learning to Canadians, promoting a Canada-wide exchange of knowledge and information and identifying interesting and promising practices. It is an independent, not-for-profit corporation. The Knowledge Centres will play a central role in CCL's structure, serving as national centres of excellence and expertise. Each is tasked with measuring Canada's progress in learning and determining where improvements need to be made in one of five key areas: Work and Learning, Early Childhood Learning, Adult Learning, Aboriginal Learning and Health and Learning. Sharing that information with partners - such as NGOs and governments throughout the country - is core to the vital role the Knowledge Centres will play. "Benchmarking, at a national level, how we are doing in each of these domains and then improving upon them is crucial to our country's development, prosperity and social cohesion," said Mr. Paul Cappon, president and CEO of CCL. "When we know where we excel and where we are falling behind, we can then share the best learning practices we have and address the learning gaps that currently exist. The five Knowledge Centres we are announcing today reflect the areas of learning that require the most urgent attention." The overall coordination of the Knowledge Centres will be done through the offices of CCL which will focus on developing collaboration, broadening the impact of CCL and facilitating the establishment of partnerships both nationally and internationally. There will be a Request for Proposals to establish each Knowledge Centre. Collaboration will be a requirement of these national centres of excellence and expertise. Information gathered by the Centres will be included in CCL's annual Composite Learning Index which will serve to inform Canadians of the progress being made over time, where improvements have been made and what remains to be done. "One of the most important things we can do as a country is to commit ourselves to a lifetime of continuous learning and development," said Robert Giroux, CCL chair. "The first step in advancing how we learn is to determine how we can produce better results. The announcement of our Knowledge Centres is the first step toward producing better results, the first step toward making Canada the country of innovation and of learning."
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The Canadian Council on Learning is an independent, not-for-profit corporation funded through an agreement with Human Resources and Social Development Canada. Its mandate is to promote and support evidence-based decisions about learning throughout all stages of life, from early childhood through to the senior years.
For more information please contact:
Elizabeth Everson Director of Communications Canadian Council on Learning 215-50 O’Connor Street Ottawa, Ontario K1P 6L2
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