Resources For TV Channel Developers

Article content

It would have been quite easy for Amina Abdulle to slip through the cracks of an educational system with a flawed blueprint for determining a student’s ability.  

Article content

By Grade 7, a lack of support in mastering a second language left Abdulle struggling in all her classes and as the teacher discussed options for high school, she was encouraged to follow the applied stream rather than the more demanding academic stream leading to university.  

Abdulle and her family came to Canada from Somalia. She started in Ontario’s school system in Grade 3 as an English as a Second Language (ESL) student. Proficient in speaking English in Grade 4, she was moved into regular classes without extra supports despite gaps in her ability to read and write at the level of her peers.  

I think we’ve come a long way in our education system

A family move from Toronto to Windsor brought her to Begley elementary for Grade 8 where an astute teacher questioned her on choosing the applied pathway.  

Article content

“I told her ‘I thought that was the plan,’” said Abdulle who went on to earn two degrees at the…