International Literacy Day Friday, September 3, 2010 - 12:22

The independent Inquiry into Adult and Youth Literacy in England - Lifelong Literacy: In, Out and Beyond Work - was launched in London, on International Literacy Day (Wednesday, 8 September 2010). It is being led by Lord Boswell, a former Conservative education minister and long-standing supporter of adult learning.

The Inquiry, which has already received positive coverage in the Times Educational Supplement (FE Focus, 3 September 2010), is focussing on the following questions on adult literacy:

• Where are we now? What has been achieved? What business remains unfinished and who has been left out, or served least well, by the policies and practices of the last decade?

• What are the literacy demands for individuals, organisations, communities and families in a period of economic challenge?

This Inquiry matters because a modern economy demands a workforce which can function safely and reliably, and has the necessary base of learning and confidence derived from it to contribute to meeting present needs, and to develop further skills.

Lord Boswell

• What are the literacy requirements for getting - and staying in - sustainable and meaningful employment? How can these be met? How can we offer relevant and integrated approaches which mean that vocational and literacy skills are learnt and developed?

• What are the literacy needs of the adult population, at different stages throughout life?

• What contributions can literacy make to skills and those who are not in employment, education and training, as well as to social cohesion, community development, health and well-being?

• How can literacy be delivered most effectively with the best possible trained and resourced workforce?

Lord Boswell said:

"I have been delighted to accept NIACE's invitation to chair their independent Inquiry into Adult Literacy. A successful society cannot rest easy on an exclusive educational base but demands an inclusive approach. I need only repeat my warm endorsement of David Cameron's election statement for NIACE when he wrote: ‘Learning isn't just about consuming chunks of knowledge in order to be able to do a job. It's about broadening the mind, giving people self-belief, strengthening the bonds of community'. I wish I had written this, but I am even more pleased that our Prime Minister did."

"In this world of stringency of resources, we need to ensure that public money is used coherently to best effect, and that we make use of all suitable channels for learning, from the workplace, through the college sector, and including outreach, community and voluntary effort. We need to avoid simplistic solutions which themselves tend to perpetuate the problem and those which may suit people already on the margins of literacy, but overlook those who are harder to reach."

We need to make sure that this Inquiry unlocks some of the answers to the crucial issue of literacy, particularly as we cope with the new demands of the 21st century.

Carol Taylor, Director of Operations at NIACE

"This Inquiry matters because a modern economy demands a workforce which can function safely and reliably, and has the necessary base of learning and confidence derived from it to contribute to meeting present needs, and to develop further skills. An impressive body of academic evidence suggests that learning empowers individuals and so improves societies. We simply cannot settle for a society where a significant part of our population lacks basic educational tools - just as Abraham Lincoln warned that we cannot function ‘half slave and half free'. We shall not lose sight of the moral issue involved."

Carol Taylor, Director of Operations at NIACE, said:

"Much has been achieved over the past decade in relation to adult literacy in England through the Skills for Life strategy, which leaves a lasting legacy. However, there is still unfinished business and unmet need. A new government, in a new domestic and global context, seeks new solutions to the challenges which we face in balancing individual need and social and economic demands. We need to make sure that this Inquiry unlocks some of the answers to the crucial issue of literacy, particularly as we cope with the new demands of the 21st century."

The Inquiry's final report will be published next year on International Literacy Day, 8 September 2011.