Investment in increasing adult literacy and numeracy levels may be one of the keys to boosting Australia’s productivity, delegates at the first national conference on adult language, literacy and numeracy assessment were told in May.

ACER Senior Research Fellow David Tout said international studies have demonstrated that investment in increasing the literacy and numeracy skills of adults has a direct and positive impact on productivity and GDP per capita.

‘But it is more than that; low levels of adult literacy and numeracy costs Australia at individual, family, economic and social levels,’ said Mr Tout. ‘Investment in adult literacy and numeracy education can therefore benefit individuals and families as well as Australia’s economy and society.’

Australian Industry Group’s Director – Education and Training, Ms Megan Lilly, delivered the first keynote presentation of the conference, on the findings of their National Workforce Literacy Project report, When Words Fail. In the study, employers overwhelmingly indicated that they are experiencing problems with literacy and numeracy skills in their workforce, resulting in reduced productivity.

‘Addressing workforce literacy and numeracy issues is a shared responsibility between government, individuals, education authorities and employers,’ said Ms Lilly. ‘Yet while there is willingness on the part of employers to play a role in building workforce literacy and numeracy skills, only eight per cent of our survey respondents told us they have adequate capacity to do so.’

In his conference opening presentation, ACER Chief Executive Professor Geoff Masters said that everybody—whether child or adult—is at a different point in their learning and is capable of making progress if motivated and provided with appropriate learning opportunities. Professor Masters said that the purpose of assessment is to establish what individuals know and where they are in their learning, and then use that knowledge to inform the next step in their development.

Industry Skills Councils also agree that now is the time for action. Mr Robert Bluer, Industry Manager, Education, at Innovation & Business Skills Australia (IBSA), in his keynote presentation addressed the issue of the need to increase the overall capacity of the vocational, education and training (VET) workforce in relation to adult English language, literacy and numeracy knowledge and expertise. He also said that good assessment is critical.

‘We have a fairly brutal way of doing it in VET: Yes, you’re competent—no, you’re not. We need to do more than make that harsh judgement,’ said Mr Bluer.

ACER convened the inaugural National Adult Language, Literacy and Numeracy Assessment Conference in response to increasing national and state interest in addressing and improving the language, literacy and numeracy skills of Australian youth and adults participating in the VET sector and in Australia’s workforce.

The most recent adult literacy and numeracy survey, conducted in 2007, revealed that about half of Australia’s adult population—about 7 million Australians—has insufficient literacy and numeracy skills to cope in modern society. During her keynote Megan Lilly noted that four million of these adults are in jobs today and will continue to be for many more years. Ms Lilly said that a lot of these people with ‘insufficient’ language, literacy and numeracy skills have been in jobs that haven’t necessarily demanded it of them in the past, however those jobs are transforming, due in a large part to technology, and the demands are increasing. For the remaining three million adults who are not in work, Ms Lilly acknowledged that low language, literacy and numeracy skills are a contributing factor to their unemployment.

Updated statistics on the number of adults with low-level language, literacy and numeracy skills will be available next year when the report on the 2011 OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) is released. PIAAC is part of the OECD Skills Strategy, an initiative that aims to optimise the use of skills in the workforce to promote economic growth and social inclusion. ACER Research Director Juliette Mendelovits and ACER’s David Tout presented an overview of PIAAC at the conference, and explained how such survey frameworks and instruments inform teaching and assessment practices in education, workplace and VET contexts.

The National Adult Language, Literacy and Numeracy Assessment Conference was held on Friday 4 May at the William Angliss Institute Conference Centre in Melbourne. Further information including a full list of speakers and topics, along with a number of the presentations, is available from www.acer.edu.au/nallnac/

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