Queensborough
Community College Establishes Language Program for Immigrants
Queensborough
Community College (QCC) has been awarded a $300,000 grant to fund
the Queens Civics Collaboration of the City University of New
York (QCCC), a partnership program between Queensborough, Queens
College, and the CUNY School of Law. This grant will provide both
English language and civics education to the adult and out-of-school
youth immigrant population in the borough of Queens.
Participating students will study various aspects of American
culture and government. As part of the programís emphasis on both
civic participation and technology-based learning, the program,
beginning this summer, will offer a theme-based curriculum for
students as a means of preparing them for effective communication
in a variety of media. Instruction in the functions of government
and civic rights and responsibilities will also be stressed.
Information from the latest census reveals the increasingly diverse
makeup of the Queens populace. The Latino population within the
borough increased 46 percent over the past decade, and the Asian
population grew 7 percent, highlighting an overall increase in
immigration during the time period. This has created demand for
programs to assist this population ís assimilation into the overall
Queens community.
"The
impetus of this program grew out of the tremendous growth of non-native
immigrants into the Queens community," says Professor Kitty
Bateman, Director of the QCC Literacy Program, who will serve
as director and be responsible for implementing some of the curricula.
"It ís essential to integrate these new immigrants into the
already existing institutions of our community, and this program
is a direct response to this need. The number of seats currently
available in Queensboroughís Literacy Program does not meet the
demand for instruction."
The program, an expansion of the already existing adult literacy
program established at QCC, is an outgrowth of the Workforce Investment
Act of 1998, a Federal program whose partial goal is "to consolidate,
coordinate, and improve employment, training, literacy, and vocational
rehabilitation programs in the United States."
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