Basic skills
Our institute works to improve basic skills in the adult population in the areas of literacy, numeracy, oral communication and the use of ICT.
Norway has taken part in two large international surveys concerning basic skills in the adult population; International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) and Adult Literacy and Life Skill Survey (ALL).
What does «Basic Skills» mean?
Basic Skills is a concept comprising the skills and the understanding necessary to be an active participant in working life and in society in general. Basic Skills are a foundation for further learning.
The understanding varies as to which skills should be included in this concept. Other concepts are also in use, such as Key Competences. At Vox we include these skills in our Basic Skills work:
- Literacy / reading and writing
- Numeracy / everyday mathematics
- Digital competence / ICT skills
- Oral communication
Groups at risk
Although Norway had a high score in the two surveys compared to other countries, there are still a large number of adults whose basic skills need to be addressed. Depending on how the statistics are interpreted, at least 400 000 are at risk. Some facts about the scores:
- In general, the number of people with low basic skills increases with age
- Every fifth person between 16 and 20 is at risk
- Immigrants, especially from non-western countries, have a low score
- Among people with low scores, these factors occur more frequently: low levels of education, unemployment, social benefits as main income.
Towards a more flexible education system
The education that has been on offer for adults with low basic skills so far is a full (condensed) primary school course. For some this will meet their needs, but for many this will be neither useful nor necessary. What many adults need, is a possibility to attend flexible education geared specifically towards the basic skills.
The Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research assigned to Vox the responsibility to develop a Framework for Basic Skills for Adults, i.e.
descriptions of levels of competence for each of the basic skills that the programme comprises, and a set of supporting tools and measures. The framework is being developed continuously, and is closely connected with
The Basic Competence in Working Life Programme.
Objective The main objective of this work is to increase the quality of teaching and ensure that individuals can get education adapted to their needs, so that every adult can attain the level of basic competence that enables him/her to meet the increased demands of today’s work and everyday life.
Read more
Vox conducts surveys and provides analysis on the competency in basic skills in the Norwegian popu...
This fact sheet presents a comparable analysis of digital skills in the Norwegian population. (Publi...
