LYNN — Pathways, Inc. Adult Education & Training has been awarded more than $2.9 million in funding for programming that provides educational and career opportunities for adults.
Pathways will receive $733,700 for each of the next four years for adult education in Lynn. The funding comes from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education through the Adult and Community Learning Services unit, according to Edward Tirrell, Pathways CEO.
Tirrell said the funding will allow Pathways to continue to provide for its core programs, four levels of English as a second language, or English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and three levels of Adult Basic Education (ABE).
The funding will also go toward the organization’s new career pathways in healthcare, which is in partnership with Lynn Vocational Technical Institute, and early childhood education, which is in partnership with North Shore Community College.
Pathways, formerly known as Operation Bootstrap, has been an adult education provider on the North Shore for more than 40 years. The organization works with adults who do not have a high school diploma, or need to learn to improve their English while figuring out a career pathway leading to a job that pays a living wage, according to its website.
Traditionally, Tirrell said adult education was to learn English and get a GED, but that’s no longer sufficient for receiving a well-paying job. The new philosophy for the organization is for adults to get credentials that lead to higher pay.
The healthcare training program in partnership with Lynn Tech will lead to adults getting credentials in EKG and phlebotomy. He said adults can learn English with Pathways and get trained in health tech vocational skills at Lynn Tech.
In Lynn, Tirrell said about a third of adults don’t have the skills to do post-secondary education and training, but 70 percent of all jobs now require post-secondary training. In addition, he said one-third of adults in Lynn don’t have English language proficiency.
Those skills are critical, not only to those individuals and their families, but to the regional economy. He said the programming is also about workforce development, or trying to create a more highly skilled workforce.
Tirrell said the new funding will allow for 240 seats, which will allow Pathways to serve that amount of students at any given time. About 400 adults are served each year.
