New approach to numeracy is crucial, finds inquiry

ADULT NUMERACY

The government needs to adopt a new approach to numeracy that focuses on how adults use maths and numbers in everyday life, according to a NIACE-led independent inquiry into adult numeracy.

The inquiry has published seven recommendations to improve the poor numeracy skills of adults – estimated to cost the economy £2.4 billion a year. It calls on the government to adopt an approach to numeracy ‘that focuses on how adults use it in everyday life’ and challenges the idea that poor numeracy skills should be seen as a ‘badge of honour’.

Resources, it says, should be prioritised to help adults with the poorest numeracy skills address their fear of numeracy and to encourage them to improve their skills.

The inquiry’s report, Numeracy Counts, also recommends that numeracy provision should be available through a wider range of organisations – including workplaces and community groups – to encourage more flexible numeracy learning through bite-sized and informal provision.

More numeracy teachers need to be trained, the report says, and we need more ‘numeracy champions’, including family support workers, learning reps and job centre staff, to signpost and support learners and promote the benefits of better numeracy skills.

Carol Taylor, Director of Operations at NIACE, said: ‘Numeracy needs to reflect our everyday lives. It’s essential that adults calculate their household budgets accurately, are sure about the risks they take with credit, the time they need on a journey and how they can manage their health.

‘Improved knowledge and skills will help people gain more control over their lives and give them the confidence to help their children and grandchildren with their numeracy learning. This is an issue the country cannot afford to ignore.’

Growth fund launched to boost investment in training

INVESTING IN TRAINING

 Business secretary Vince Cable and skills minister John Hayes have launched a £50 million a year fund to boost investment in training and help businesses develop the skills they need to drive growth.

The Growth and Innovation Fund will deliver targeted help for employer groups to overcome barriers to growth within their sectors and industries. The funding could deliver new training to boost innovation and productivity, enable industries to set new professional standards, or support new or extended National Skills Academies.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will invest up to £50 million per year in partnership with businesses, whose investment alongside government could deliver a total of up £100 million a year.

Vince Cable said: ‘This government understands that to rebalance and grow our economy, we need to tackle the skills shortages that hold companies back. Through this fund, we will support employers that take collective action to overcome these blockages to expansion.

‘By putting the employer voice at the heart of the process, we will reward inventive approaches to training that deliver real help to get business moving.’

The investment fund, which will be delivered in partnership by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills and the Skills Funding Agency, invites proposals from employer organisations such as Sector Skills Councils, professional bodies and trade associations.

Angela Eagle, Labour’s Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, has announced details of Labour’s review into life on low pay in Britain. This working group will inform the party’s wider economic policy review, coordinated by Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls.

Ms Eagle said the review would focus ‘on the challenges facing people and families on low pay up and down the country’.

‘I will be meeting with people to learn about how they work and live on low pay and spending time in traditionally low-paid sectors such as retail, leisure services and factories,’ she said.

‘Fairness and dignity in work are at the heart of our vision for a more equal and stronger Britain … Too many are stuck in low-wage, long-hour jobs without routes to better work and a better life. It’s a fundamental Labour belief that work should pay and those who work hard should be properly rewarded.’

The government has delayed the publication of its plans to reform higher education in England, partly so that it can take into account what fees universities are likely to charge.

The higher education White Paper was due to be published this month, but universities minister David Willetts said he was delaying it in part to see how ‘price- setting works this spring’.

Mr Willetts has repeatedly warned university vice-chancellors against automatically setting the higher fee level.

The government has used average fees of £7,500 to model its proposals, but higher education experts have suggested that most universities will want to charge nearer £9,000 to avoid being seen as a poorer option.

The White Paper is expected to be published by June.

The Colleges in their Communities inquiry has invited principals, managers, teachers, learners, community representatives and others with an interest in the area to respond to its call for evidence.

The inquiry, which will report in November 2011, is investigating the strategic role colleges play in their communities and the added public value they can bring in leading adult learning provision and serving each of their local communities.

It particularly wants to receive submissions on: the relationship between colleges and their communities; how colleges contribute to local/ community leadership; how colleges develop, implement and refine national adult learning policies and plans; and how they define and arrive at an adult curriculum for their communities.

Evidence must be submitted by Friday 18 March 2011: collegesincommunities@niace.org.uk.

QUOTE UNQUOTE

"The idea at the heart of… the Big Society is about rebuilding responsibility and giving people more control over their lives. But that doesn’t just apply in areas like volunteering. It’s as relevant when it comes to public services and the decentralisation of power"

Prime Minister David Cameron, Daily Telegraph, 21 February 2011