A new report touts the economic impact — and untapped potential — of alternative schools that register mature students, adult newcomers and others who did not finish Grade 12.

“We ought to be radically re-imagining what education is,” said Jim Silver, professor emeritus of urban and inner-city studies at the University of Winnipeg.

“If you ask anybody, ‘What’s education?’ They’ll say, ‘K to 12 — elementary school and high school — and I guess, it’s also post-secondary, colleges and university.’”

As far as Silver is concerned, “basic adult education” should always be included in that definition.

The career researcher has appealed to multiple provincial governments to top up funding for these programs as part of their respective poverty-reduction plans.

Last week, in partnership with th

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