UPDATE (Monday, 2 p.m.): The province has announced that the Canadian Adult Education Credential will replace the GED. Registration will open in summer 2024. More information will be posted here when it becomes available.
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Friday signalled the end of the General Education Development (GED) in Canada, leaving fewer options for those without a high school diploma.
The sole company that provides the test, Pearson Vue GED Testing Service, officially ended its service in Canada as of May 3.
So far, there is no alternative in Guelph: Some provinces announced a program called the Canadian Adult Education Credential to replace the GED – though Ontario has not announced a replacement yet.
“Not having an alternative to the GED leaves a significant gap and barrier for some adult learners,” said Mira Clarke, executive director of Action Read Community Literacy Centre.
Action Read provides free adult learning programs, which included GED support until recently.
“The GED credential was created as a second chance high school equivalency opportunity for adults who needed an alternative to the traditional JK-12 system,” she said. “Adults choose to complete their high school or GED later in life for many reasons. Not having one’s high school remains a significant barrier to employment, or to being accepted into an apprenticeship program.”
The end of the GED also signals fewer options for youth experiencing or at risk of homelessness, said Kristen Cairney, executive director of Wyndham House.
Not everyone graduates high school because it has a specific structure that “isn’t always perfectly designed for every person,” she said.
“If you are in a personal crisis, where you don’t know where you’re going to sleep or how you’re going to eat … it’s very difficult to be able to focus on something like school, to physically attend school,” she said.
However, both Clarke and Cairney said there are still some great options available, like continuing education and the Prior Learning Assessment Recognition program, which allows students to obtain a number of credits for prior learning and life experience. There is a PLAR program for those under 18 and those over.
Wyndham House has an Education and Community Partnership program with the Upper Grand District School Board called New Way, which provides support to young people up to the age of 21 to do alternative education in a non-school environment with a teacher from UGDSB. This includes PLARS.
“The PLAR is a really great option. It’s different, and probably a little bit more intensive in terms of the amount of time than a GED,” Cairney said.
New Way started offering the PLAR pathway about two years ago, a change that “has been very meaningful for clients who’ve had a complicated life,” she said.
For instance, for a 17-year-old who wants to complete high school but only has two credits, going back to Grade 9 could be “very difficult.”
“PLAR provides a different sort of pathway, similar to the concept of a GED, which assesses prior learning and provides a more streamlined pathway to completing credits and getting a high school diploma.”
One significant difference between the two is that students actually get their high school diploma with PLAR, compared to a high school equivalency certificate with the GED.
“But it’s also less rigid than the GED – the teacher could tailor the work to the student, and it can happen over any duration of time,” she said.
“I think having different pathways for people is important, so in that sense, taking away one of those pathways, which might be more appropriate for some, could pose a greater challenge for certain young adults.”
“This is very helpful, and with the phasing out of the GED, it’s really important that schools like ours have access to that,” she said.
In Guelph, the GED was previously offered through continuing education for adults with UGDSB, and administered through the Independent Learning Centre.
“Recent changes to Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition enable all schools to grant PLAR credits as long as students meet the requirements,” said Peggy Blair, UGDSB Superintendent of Education – Student Services in an email.
“Because of these changes we have already seen an increase in the number of students being eligible to graduate which is very positive. In conjunction with Continuing Education, all secondary schools are being trained on the new PLAR requirements and how to identify any students who may qualify.”
She said UGDSB’s Continuing Education department will continue to provide credit program offerings for learners wishing to get their diploma or any prerequisite courses necessary for post-secondary.
“The UGDSB will provide upgrading supports for learners when a newly developed program that replaces the GED becomes available,” she said.
Clarke said she hopes the province will offer a “well-supported and publicized replacement to the GED in the coming months.”
Likewise, Cairney emphasized having plenty of alternative options is crucial “to making sure that we don’t see the long-term impacts of the homelessness crisis situation continuing to impact their future opportunities.”
In the meantime, Action Read will continue to provide free programs for adults “who need a boost in meeting their other literacy, numeracy, employability and digital literacy goals,” Clarke said.
