Patrick-Murray Administration Improves On-the-Job Education for Low Literacy and Low English Proficiency Workers

Learn at Work Program will Connect Employees with Education and Training at the Worksite

Boston, MA – At the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester, Suzanne M. Bump, the Commonwealth’s Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development today announced that a total of $1.4 million is being devoted to the Learn at Work program, providing workplace educational services for low-literacy and low English proficiency adults.

Community-based and workplace-based initiatives provide critical links to the knowledge and skills necessary for employees to be competitive and successful in the current labor market. Following an intensive review and analysis, the Massachusetts Workforce Investment Board’s (MWIB) committee on Adult Basic Education and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ABE/ESOL) made recommendations to provide $ 1 million in funds from the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development (EOWLD) to support the Learn at Work program, which is supplemented with $400,000 from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE). The MWIB advises the Governor on strategies to build a strong workforce development system aligned with state education policies and economic development goals.

“At least one-fifth of workers in Massachusetts are immigrants,” Secretary Bump commented. She also said that: “These funds will support not only workers achieving literacy and gains in learning, but also increase their skills to help them move through their career pipeline. Skill gains allow workers to thrive at their place of employment and provide a return on investment to the employer. It is important that such programs serve both adult and younger students appropriately; and that the programs meet local workforce development needs.”

Secretary of Education for the Commonwealth, Paul Reville, thanked EOLWD for their great partnership and noted that ESE has played a significant role in using Workplace Education Programs to improve adult literacy and English proficiency for undereducated and limited English proficient workers in the Commonwealth “Workplace Education Programs link literacy, learning and skill achievement and help prepare adult learners for the needs of the workforce,” he said. “Ultimately, these programs prepare non-traditional student workers for success in today's increasingly competitive job market.”

"The success of our future workforce, in heath care as well as other industries, is dependent on the development and growth of programs of this nature," said the event's host John G. O'Brien, President and CEO of UMass Memorial Health Care and a MWIB member. "As the Chair of the City or Worcester's Youth Advisory Council, whose primary objective is youth employment; I've seen first hand how important it is to provide students of all ages with the opportunity to learn the skills that will build stronger workplaces and stronger communities."

Tamika N. Correia, Executive Director of the MWIB, is excited that these funds will be available to both non-profit, for-profit businesses, and labor management partnerships: “Innovative ABE/ESOL benefits employees and employers alike and creates a better work environment,” she said.

A Request for Proposal (RFP) is being issued today to interested companies who can apply for a portion of the funds. A committee comprised of the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, Executive Office of Education, Massachusetts Workforce Investment Board and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will review the applications and make decisions about which proposals to fund.

The funds represent a combination of workforce grants as part of the Executive Office’s state budget as well as additional funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act federal grant program.

For more information, please visit www.mass.gov/eolwd.