DEPARTMENT FOR
INNOVATION, UNIVERSITIES AND SKILLS News Release (035/2008) issued
by The Government News Network on 23 June 2008
2010 Skills for
Life target achieved two years early as Denham pledges continuing
focus on skills and training
An ambitious target for 2.25 million people to achieve their
first national qualification in basic skills such as reading and
writing has been achieved two years early, John Denham, Secretary
of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills announced today.
Since 2001, 2,276,000 learners have achieved their first Skills
for Life qualification in literacy, language or numeracy,
improving the life chances of millions of people and in many cases
paving the way into work or improving job prospects.
Skills for Life provides free literacy, language and numeracy
tuition for adults in England who have skills below Level 2
(broadly equivalent to a GCSE at grades A* - C.). An external
study found that Skills for Life has set the standard for
government-led intervention and is seen as the benchmark against
which other countries measure their own commitment and achievements.
Mr Denham said:
"These qualifications give people so
much more than just a certificate. Gaining basic skills like
reading and writing are a vital step towards getting a better job
and life.
"Better skills improve the life chances of not only the
learners but also their families and children. Skills help people
get into and on at work, provide a stepping stone to further
qualifications and can also help parents with basic tasks like
supporting their children with their homework or reading them a
bedtime story."
Research from the National Research and Development Centre for
adult literacy and numeracy published in May 2008, found having
basic skills had a direct impact on the achievement of children in
particular that:
* Poor basic skills, such as literacy and
numeracy, transfer from one generation to the next;
*
Parents' basic skills have a significantly greater impact on
their child's cognitive ability than other factors such as
the family structure, household income, a parent's education
and socio-economic group;
* Parents' literacy skills have
the most significant impact on the cognitive ability of young
children. Five-year-olds from families with good literacy perform
up to 65% better in cognitive tests than those who are from
families with the lowest levels of literacy.
Achieving basic skills can also have a direct affect on the
likelihood of people increasing their job prospects and the amount
of money they earn. Indeed, a lack of literacy, language and
numeracy skills can often trap people into low-skilled,
poorly-paid jobs. 45% of those with literacy Level 1 or below in
work earn less than £10,000 a year, this compares to only 25% with
literacy skills at Level 1 or above.
Research also shows that 98 per cent of jobs are closed to people
with basic skills below entry level with 50 per cent of jobs
closed to people with basic skills below level.
The Government plans to improve the functional literacy and
numeracy skills of one million adults over the current
comprehensive spending review period with targets for 390,000
numeracy and 597,000 literacy achievements over the next three
years. This will be backed by a further £3.9 billion in government
funding between 2007/08 and 2010/11.
Mark Haysom, Chief Executive of the Learning and Skills Council,
which plans and funds Skills for Life courses, said:
"The
early achievement of the 2010 PSA target is a direct result of the
hard work, effort and energy of our learning and training
providers. They are to be congratulated for enriching the lives
and employability of individuals by giving them the necessary
literacy and numeracy skills. Starting the journey of self
improvement from the lowest levels whilst not easy, can bring a
wealth of rewards to the individual as their confidence grows and
in turn to the British economy as our skills base is raised. With
this fantastic achievement now under our belt we must continue
with our crusade to eliminate poor literacy and numeracy within England."
Notes to editors
1. The 2010 Skills for Life Public Service Agreement (PSA) target
was for 2.25 million people to have improved their skills by one
level by achieving their a first qualification in Adult Literacy,
Numeracy or ESOL at Entry Level 3, Level 1 or Level 2, from April
2001 to July 2010. The target measures first achievements only -
there is no double counting. So if a learner moves their skills up
by two levels, only one achievement is counted towards the target.
There have now been 2,276,000 million achievements meaning the
target for 2.25m achievements by July 2010 has been met two years early.
2. The Skills for Life Strategy was launched in 2001 to tackle
the legacy of adults with poor literacy, language and numeracy
skills within England. The strategy aims to help create a
society where adults have the basic skills they need to find and
keep work and participate fully in society, through:
*
Boosting demand for learning
* Ensuring capacity of the
learning provider delivery system
* Improving standards of
teaching and learning
* Increasing learner achievement
3. The Skills for Life National Needs and Impact Survey of
Literacy, Numeracy and IT skills, published in October 2003,
estimated that in England, 5.2 million adults aged 16-65 have
literacy levels below Level 1 (broadly equivalent in difficulty to
an English GCSE at grades D-G), and 6.8 million have numeracy
skills below Entry Level 3 (the level expected of 11 year olds).
The full survey is available at http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research.
4. In November 2004 the Government met and exceeded the target to
ensure that 750,000 adults improved their skills and gained a
qualification by 2004. In February 2007 the Government met and
exceeded the target to ensure that 1,500,000 adults improved their
skills and gained a qualification by 2007.
5. It is estimated that an individual with good literacy and
numeracy could earn £50,000 more over a working life than someone
with poorer skills. And although achieving the most basic levels
in numeracy and literacy does not always increase earnings or job
prospects in the short term, the increased self-confidence and
motivation learners gain from completing a course is of huge
personal value and helps them start the process of transforming
their lives.
6. The then Department for Education and Skills commissioned a
study, Benchmarking the Skills for Life Strategy, Tribal Education
and Technology (October 2006), benchmarking the key components of
the Skills for Life strategy against approaches to improving the
literacy and numeracy skills of young people and adults within the
United Kingdom and internationally. The study found, that compared
with approaches in other countries, the Skills for Life strategy
was highly developed and distinctive in the breadth of its scope
and the application of its systems. It presented a national
end-to-end adult teaching and learning infrastructure comprising:
standards, courses, teaching requirements, learning support,
assessment and qualifications that were not matched anywhere in
the world.
7. The LSC's "Get On" campaign, which was first
launched by the then Department for Education and Skills in 2001,
is part of the Government's Skills for Life strategy. The
campaign encourages the millions of people in England who
experience difficulties with literacy, language and numeracy
skills, or would benefit from 'brushing up' on these
skills, to enrol on a free course by calling 0800 66 0800.
8. The Government's consultation over a new legal right for
workers to request time to train was launched on Wednesday 18 June
and can be found at: http://www.dius.gsi.gov.uk