Vol. 421 No. 6
18 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Education if, in regard to adult literacy in 1991, he will outline (a) the allocation provided to address same, (b) the courses available and (c) the attendances at courses at the start of the course compared with the completion of the course.
Literacy issues are addressed as part of general education and training programmes as well as by specific literacy programmes.
Specific provision is made under the adult literacy and community education scheme which is the basic programme aimed at combating illiteracy. The provision in 1991 for the ongoing services provided under the scheme was £1 million. In addition, grants amounting to £77,000 were provided to the National Adult Literacy Agency. A further £240,000 was provided for special initiatives, which included literacy for disadvantaged adults.
In addition to these specific provisions, arrangements for literacy training are also included in a variety of other general education and training programmes, including programmes for early school leavers. It is not possible to disaggregate the cost of the literacy element of these programmes.
In view of the diversity of provision, the information sought in relation to the number of courses and attendances is not available and would take an inordinate amount of time to obtain.
As the Green Paper on Education will show, I fully recognise the need to address literacy issues within a comprehensive programme. I will have such a programme developed as a follow-on to the Green Paper discussions.
Would the Minister say what are the current statistics in relation to the number of adults who actually have literacy problems or who are chronically illiterate?
In the Green Paper on Education I propose that we undertake a national survey of literacy because the relevant evidence and information is hopelessly out of date. For example, the OECD report maintained that, in developed countries generally — which would obviously include Ireland — they perceive an alarmingly high incidence of what they call functional illiteracy, as opposed to what we normally regard as strict illiteracy. Therefore, the OECD regard it as alarmingly high. Certainly I would not disagree with their assessment.
That disposes of questions for today.
