New Zealand’s low adult literacy rates cannot be ignored. It is a growing problem that carries a significant social and economic weight. For individuals with low literacy, the struggle extends far beyond the workplace to their home and family life and future prospects.
For businesses, low workplace literacy is a risk to health and safety, and a barrier to productivity.
A 2006 international study showed that over a million New Zealanders (43% of adults aged 16 to 65) have literacy skills below those needed to participate fully in a knowledge society. More than 80% of that – or 1.1 million – are in the workforce.
Workplace literacy and numeracy covers a whole range of skills needed at work, including communicating, reading instructions, accomplishing tasks, working within a team, and adapting to new technology and approaches.
In so many contexts, businesses will say that literacy is the underlying issue behind many challenges they face in their business. But many fewer business have got active strategies to sort it, perhaps because the issue seems too big to deal with, or they do not know what support is available.
So here is the good news. Businesses can get direct financial support to improve the literacy and numeracy skills of staff in their own workplace.
Skills Highway is an employer-focussed programme funded by government and managed by the Industry Training Federation in partnership with the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC).
We’re delighted to be involved, and want to make sure that it is an easy process for businesses to access the funding, and engage with effective training and the resources to meet their needs.
New Zealand’s Industry Training Organisations (ITOs) are ideally placed to work with business on this, because already they work alongside employers across a vast range of industries, and cover 75% of the workplace.
ITOs will help set workplaces up with literacy and numeracy programmes, and employer and worker-friendly resources.
The ITF has appointed workplace literacy specialist Nicky Murray as national programme manager for Skills Highway, and Anne Alkema as research manager. Both Nicky and Anne have extensive experience in this highly specialised field.
Murray will help employers to access the available funding and she will connect workplaces with literacy providers, industry training organisations and other key players.
Our commitment is to make sure that the process is simple and the benefits are sustainable for workers and their bosses.
Improving workplace literacy will make a real difference to New Zealand’s economy and quality of life. Not only will the results of this programme affect individual achievement and kick-start educational success, it can also unlock productivity, and deliver far-reaching benefits for the workplace, industry, and our economy.
But there is also a bigger picture. While we are committed to the success of this programme, and we will be working with ITOs and employers to make a real difference to literacy in the workforce, we also need to look back into the school system.
We need to ensure that more young people are coming through that system set up with the skills they need for their lives ahead.
See more at: skillshighway.govt.nz & itf.org.nz
