SURREY (NEWS1130) – Surrey students, many of whom speak English as a second language are struggling with literacy, according to a new study done by the city’s library system.
    
It found at least one-third of kindergarten students are vulnerable learners and without support could eventually fall behind in the classroom and later on as adults.
    
Doug Strachan with the Surrey School Board says teachers have been successful in trying to bridge the gap.  “We have a number of specialists that we have in programs that identify what are the educational needs of individual students and then we tailor programs to help those students get on track.”
    
The study also discovered three quarters of kids under 14 who’ve come to BC don’t know English when they arrive.
    
“We have very high proportionate amount of ESL students and other vulnerable students come in to our district and we are consistently at or near or over the provincial rates,” he adds.
    
The study also found the rate of “vulnerable learners” as Strachan mentioned was 30 per cent province-wide, while the average in Surrey was 32 per cent which is up from 2007-2009.