HEQCO report calls for better integration of numeracy across PSE

A new report from the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) finds that non-STEM PSE students lack sufficient opportunities to develop their numeracy skills. Moreover, the report suggests that Ontario is falling behind other jurisdictions when it comes to numeracy. “While there is broad consensus that literacy skills are essential for work and life in general, there is less consensus about numeracy, even though both are defined as essential skills by a number of sources,” the report says. It argues that numeracy is too often segregated into particular courses. Moreover, the report says that PSE institutions do not collect enough data regarding the numeracy skills of incoming students. The report calls for further integration of numeracy in PSE courses of study and calls on PSE institutions to implement numeracy assessments for incoming and outgoing students. HEQCO News Release| Full Report