Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)
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Question 38: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will introduce a robust programme to eradicate adult literacy problems in the workplace; and the specific target dates for the incremental eradication of these literacy problems. [18803/07]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Work being undertaken through my Department complements that of the Department of Education and Science which has general responsibility for providing for those with adult literacy problems.

The FÁS Workplace Basic Education Fund was established in 2005 to address low levels of literacy and numeracy issues in the workplace. A National Steering Committee was put in place to manage the Fund. It is representative of a range of organisations and interests, including the National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA), the Irish Congress of Trades Unions (ICTU), employer interests and the Irish Vocational Education Association (IVEA).

NALA and the Irish Congress of Trades Unions were designated as co-ordinating bodies and charged with the deployment of workplace basic education coordinators in eight regions under contract to FÁS. They provide the following services:

Raising awareness amongst employees and employers regarding literacy and numeracy issues and the supports available through the Workplace Basic Education Fund;

Recruiting employees to programmes; and

Sourcing providers of services.

Outcomes to date can be summarised as follows:

2005 — a budget spend of €1,812,524 and a throughput of 450 registered learners on 47 programmes.

2006 — a budget spend of €2,138,197 and a throughput of 1,618 registered learners in 204 programmes.

2007 — out of a total budget of €3 million to date a budget spend of €1,384,786 and a throughput of 1,302 registered learners in 157 programmes

In light of the importance that the Government and the social partners attach to facilitating those outside the active labour market to enter and those in employment to improve their aptitudes and skills levels, increasing emphasis is being placed on catering for the needs of those with literacy and numeracy shortcomings. Accordingly, over the period to 2010 the scope and depth of the services provided by FÁS and funded through the Workplace Basic Education Fund will be progressively improved to ensure that the following services characterise its programmes for this cohort:

The availability of education and training advice through a national network of co-ordinators and training advisers who are properly qualified and resourced.

Access to work-related learning and training for low skilled workers and allied provision of accreditation and certification of workplace learning through an integrated curriculum approach to basic education.

Improved basic literacy and numeracy skills amongst the workforce as a platform for future skill development in targeted employment sectors.

Empowering learners to continue on a lifelong learning process

The Government and the social partners recognise the need to encourage those involved to undertake remedial training and education. As indicated, we are committed to fully funding such training and increasing annual participation rates bodes well for the future.

Appendix 1

Developing a workplace literacy / numeracy training programme.

How the scheme operates:

In February/March 2005, the WBEF budget was allocated and the National Steering Group was established. National guidelines were drafted and agreed and the project Regional Co-ordinators were appointed in May/June of 2005.

The initial first steps in 2005 have shown that awareness and promotional activity to employer organisation/sectors are not enough to ensure the take up of training places.

In 2006 a new approach and training was provided to Co-ordinators (8). Co-ordinators engage directly with employers on a regional base, identifying companies with low skilled/low paid employment. Co-ordinators act as promoters within the workplace working with management and union officials and recruit employees directly.

Literacy/numeracy education and training alone does not appeal to those workers who might benefit most. For this reason the programme has developed an integrated curriculum approach to workplace education and training. The most popular is themed communication in health, safety and hygiene in the workplace. A number of other integrated curriculum approaches have been developed for the cleaning, food & drink, manufacturing (especially in the North West Region with employees at risk) and security sectors. This approach has proven to be much more successful when compared with the take up in 2005 and the increased numbers in 2006.

The target education programme is 30 to 45 hours of communications (applied literacy) at FETAC level 3, delivered in the workplace over several weeks (3-4 hours per week) to groups of 8 people. The feedback from employers has been very positive with employees continuing to progress to more general training programmes as a result. This bodes well for expansion possibilities along the lines outlined in the objectives of 'Towards 2016'.

The WBEF programme operates under the direction of a National Steering Committee comprising of all the relevant stakeholders. There is one FÁS Manager and Assistant Manager assigned to the programme, with 8 Regional Co-ordinators. The Co-ordinators (4 from NALA and 4 from ICTU) act as promoters and report to the FÁS management team. They are focused on workplace training delivery and organise/manage training initiatives locally between employers and the training providers.

Adult Literacy and Workplace Education

1. General

Adult literacy services, and adult education services generally, are funded by the Department of Education and Science and delivered locally by Vocational Education Committees (VECs), of which there are 33.

2. OECD International Adult Literacy Survey.

An International Adult Literacy Survey, conducted in 1995 and published in 1997, provided a profile of the literacy skills of adults aged 16-64. It found that about 25% of the Irish population, or at least 500,000 adults, scored at the lowest level (Level 1), performing at best tasks which required the reader to locate a simple piece of information in a text, with no distracting information, and when the structure of the text assists the task. The survey showed early school leavers, older adults and the unemployed as being most at risk of literacy difficulties, with participation in adult education and training being least likely for those with the poorest skills.

3. Developments in Adult Literacy since the OECD survey.

The provision in the education sector for adult literacy increased from a base of €1m in 1997 to €30m in 2007.

With the increase in funds,

the numbers of clients catered for annually have increased from 5,000 to 38,000 between 1997 and 2007;

referral networks with FÁS, Local Employment Services, Local Development Partnerships, Health Centres, welfare and community groups, playgroups, schools and school parent committees, libraries etc. are being expanded and strengthened;

family literacy groups, involving adults and their children, are running successfully, and a number of open learning centres are being piloted, along with literacy groups for migrant women, travellers, and programmes for the unemployed in co-operation with the Community Employment Scheme;

staff development programmes are underway on a modular in-service basis for tutors and literacy organisers;

a quality framework for the adult literacy service has been developed and published by the National Adult Literacy Agency in collaboration with partners in Northern Ireland, Spain, and UK;.

FÁS/VEC Community Employment joint literacy programmes are being expanded to all regions. There are now 46 in operation. These programmes enable participants on FÁS-funded Community Employment to be released half time from their work experience programme to avail of intensive literacy tuition by the vocational education committees. This enables them to combine work experience and 10 hours per week literacy tuition;

4. TV and Radio

The Department of Education and Science commissioned the development of six TV series in literacy awareness and tuition for adults over the period 2000 to 2006.

Each series was supplemented by a national freephone helpline provided by the National Adult Literacy Agency, and learner workbooks and resource packs. Videos of the series were also sent free to literacy schemes, public libraries, training centres and video outlets. The programmes were very successful in terms of the numbers of viewers.

The series has been very effective in reaching people who may not want to join a local VEC literacy scheme and prefer to learn in the privacy of their own homes.

5. National Development Plan 2007-2013

"In line with the commitment under Towards 2016 there will be an increase of 7,000 places over the period of the NDP".

6. Workplace literacy

The National Adult Literacy Agency has trained a number of tutors to provide literacy in the workplace and has promoted the availability of the service among employer organisations. The programme is available nationwide for manual local authority outdoor staff.

There are also successful workplace literacy programmes in two hospitals and in a trade union.

Paragraph 2.8 of "Sustaining Progress" states:

a workplace basic education and literacy/ numeracy/ information and communication technologies programme will be implemented, building on the recommendations of the National Adult Literacy Agency report on a Workplace Basic Education Strategy and the Report of the Task Force on Lifelong Learning. Pilot initiatives will be implemented in targeted sectors where there are vulnerable workers, in partnership with trades unions.

NALA established a Workplace Literacy Strategy Group, representing employer organisations, trades unions, the Departments of Education and Science and Enterprise, Trade and Employment, and FÁS to explore how it can be mainstreamed. The Report of the Workplace Literacy Strategy Group (Workplace Basic Education Programmes in Ireland: Approaches and Models for Implementation) was published in 2002 and recommends the establishment of a workplace literacy fund with the social partners. There are no plans at present to establish a dedicated fund for Workplace Basic Education.

7. National Training Fund

A National Training Fund is administered by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Its purposes include raising the skills of those in employment, and providing training to those who wish to acquire skills for the purposes of taking up employment. The Departments of Education and Science and Enterprise, Trade and Employment have had preliminary discussions on the utilisation of the National Training Fund for workplace basic education.

8. FÁS

In 2005, and again in 2006, FÁS was allocated €2m. for workplace literacy. The figure for 2007 is €3 million.