Skills Minister Brendan O’Connor wants the new programs to overcome barriers to education,including the shame and embarrassment some people feel when they attend courses that are meant to help them.
“As a First World nation,a wealthy nation,it’s unacceptable that we have such a very high proportion of adults unable to read,write or be digitally literate,” O’Connor said.
“And I think it’s incumbent on all governments and others to turn that around.”
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Federal leaders have promised hundreds of millions of dollars to lift basic skills over the past decade as part of vocational education policies that were meant to improve the workforce and generate an economic dividend. But the government believes the problem is likely to be as great as it was six years ago.
Australians have stronger literacy,on average,than adults in many other developed economies,according to a global study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. But the 2017 analysis found that one in five workers had low literacy or numeracy skills.
“Australia has a similar share of low-skilled adults as New Zealand,a smaller proportion than the United States,the United Kingdom and most European Mediterranean countries,and a larger share than Nordic countries,Japan,and the Netherlands,”the OECD said.