ALA in conjunction with the Australian Education Union has recently developed a policy paper on adult literacy and numeracy in Australia.
Australia has a significant problem with adult literacy and numeracy. The 2006/7 Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey indicated that between 46% and 70% of adults in Australia had ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’ skills across one or more of the five skill domains of prose literacy, document literacy, numeracy, problem-solving and health literacy. Further, that with the exception of the 15-19 year age group, each generational group had lower literacy skills than its younger counterparts. In other words, lack of language, literacy and numeracy is not confined to the young or to job seekers but impacts across the lifespan.
It has been more than 20 years since the last national policy on Adult Language and Literacy.
ALA’s policy paper is called ‘Let’s get serious about adult literacy and numeracy’ and makes a case for action on adult education in Australia.
The policy paper will be distributed to ALA members or you can download it below.
Let’s Get Serious about Adult Literacy and Numeracy