Adult Basic Education (ABE) Programs in New Mexico and the National Coalition for Literacy (NCL) are celebrating National Adult Education and Family Literacy week, October 18 – 24. The New Mexico Adult Education Association will hold its 41st conference October 21-24 at the Inn of the Mountain Gods in Ruidoso.
Adult education and family literacy programs serve adult students who need to improve their basic literacy, math, and English skills, prepare for the GED test to attain a high school equivalence degree, and prepare for community college or vocational training. According to the latest national survey of adults, more than 93 million American adults have basic or below basic literacy skills.
New Mexico’s 28 ABE programs served more than 23,000 adults in school year 2008-2009, an increase of 15 percent over the previous year. The number of ABE students who met the goal of “enter employment” is the highest ever reported in New Mexico and more than double that reported in previous years. In addition, 2,117 ABE students obtained their GED last year and 65 percent transitioned to college.
In Chaves County, 51 percent of adults function at the lowest two levels of literacy. In addition, 34 percent of Chaves County adults have limited English abilities. The ABE program at ENMU-Roswell is working to change that, providing free materials and instruction in citizenship, GED preparation, English literacy, basic reading, writing and math skills, life skills, and basic office skills. The program serves more than 2,000 students each year and 246 students received their GED’s in 2008. Currently, 612 students attending ENMU-Roswell are GED graduates. ABE classes are offered at ENMU-Roswell and at various sites throughout Chaves County. For more information about the ENMU-Roswell ABE program, call 624-7271.