Literacy report urges incentives

A new report for Government on adult literacy has recommended that a range of financial incentives be made available for those affected to encourage them to take part in training courses.

The range of radical incentives suggested by the joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Science includes additional social welfare allowances, training allowances or tax credits.

The committee has also recommended a five-fold increase in the €25 million annual budget for tackling the issue. It believes that €100 million should be made available in the adult literacy tuition budget, with a further €25 million for improving ancillary and support services.

The €25 million available is distributed by the VECs, which organise and carry out adult literacy courses. In 1995, the international adult literacy survey undertaken by the OECD revealed that one in four adults in Ireland had basic literacy problems. This ratio was almost the highest of the western countries surveyed.

Among the recommendations in the committee's report, which was published yesterday, are:

Tackling the level of literacy problems should become a national priority and the number of people on the lowest literacy levels should be halved in 15 years.

The number of students in the adult literacy system should be doubled.

The average number of hours of instruction for each student should be increased from two hours per week for 30 weeks to four to six hours per week for in excess of 30 weeks.

An adult literacy infrastructure should be established in each city and county.

Literacy courses should be developed in the workplace and special provisions should be formulated for Travellers and foreign nationals.

The latter category represents around 25 per cent of all adults currently in the system.

The committee that compiled the report was chaired by Michael Moynihan TD (FF). It has extended an invitation to Education Minister Mary Hanafin and senior officials at the department to appear before it in six months to report on progress made on the implementation of the recommendations.