Conor Lenihan
Question:578 Mr. C. Lenihan asked the Minister for Education and Science his views on whether adult literacy is a serious problem in terms of filling skills shortages from the ranks of those on the live register. [9848/99]
Written Answers. - Adult Education.
Conor Lenihan
Question:579 Mr. C. Lenihan asked the Minister for Education and Science his views on whether there needs to be a much greater focus on adult literacy if unemployment is to be further reduced. [9849/99]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 578 and 579 together.
Improvements in the labour market generally have meant that it is those whose difficulties are most entrenched, including in terms of literacy and basic education, who now remain unemployed, and who also find themselves unable to access mainstream education and training programmes. The OECD international adult literacy survey attests to the low levels of literacy in the adult population in Ireland.
Following the survey, an extra £0.25 million was provided for adult literacy in 1997, and the funds were doubled, by a further £2 million in 1998. A further increase of £3.2 million has been provided over 1999 and 2000 as part of the December budget package. The funds have been used to establish a national adult literacy development fund to test approaches which will lead to mainstreaming. Key priorities are the promotion of awareness strategies using a range of media, the deployment of staff to outreach work, the establishment of referral networks with other agencies, the promotion of a continuum from one-to-one voluntary tuition to tuition in small groups to progression to certified learning options, and the promotion of flexibility in the delivery and timing of services. Open learning centres and family literacy approaches are also being tested.
A working group, representative of Departments and other interested organisations, has been established under the aegis of my Department to examine how the literacy services might best serve unemployed people.
The recently published Green Paper on Adult Education sets out as a top priority the establishment of a national adult literacy programme, and proposes that funding in this area should increase on a phased basis to at least £10 million per annum.