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13May2010
An open letter to the Members of the new Parliament

Posted by Jonathan Douglas

Dear Members of Parliament,

We at the National Literacy Trust would like to offer our congratulations on winning your seat in the election.

Education did not figure as prominently in this election as many would have liked. The economic debate dominated the hustings. But any medium term economic strategy needs to be built on an investment in skills and we hope the political debate will begin to address this.

Literacy sits at the heart of this challenge. Low levels of literacy are a fundamental issue of domestic social justice – not just an issue for international development. Leitch reported four years ago that 5 million adults lack functional literacy skills. 33% of children are not reaching the expected levels in writing by the time they leave primary school and 14% are not reaching the levels in reading. Low levels of literacy are focused on poorer socio-economic groups. This directly impacts on employability and earning potential, social mobility and inclusion. 80% of prisoners have writing skills at or below the level expected of an 11-year-old child; the equivalent figure for reading is 50% (Social Exclusion Unit, 2002:6).

Over the past fifteen years much has been done to address poor literacy issues, however the challenge remains particularly for those learners who face issues of exclusion. We hope that all parties will commit to building on the successes of the work of schools, colleges, early years settings and libraries. We believe four priorities need to be addressed if we are to see a step change in literacy levels in the UK:

Improve support for speaking and listening skills in the community and in schools. This is the foundation of all literacy. We hope all MPs will back the proposed 2011 national year of speech, language and communication.

Invest in support for literacy in the home. The partnership between schools and families is crucial in raising literacy standards. Literacy support needs to be an integral part of parenting support.

Promote the effective teaching of phonics in schools and supplement it with strategies to promote reading for pleasure. This needs to be a funded priority for schools and libraries.

Promote the importance of literacy to those communities with the lowest skills. They are still the least likely to access literacy courses. Addressing the demand for skills is vitally important. Social marketing campaigns have a vital role to play here.

We are passionate about literacy and its ability to allow individuals, communities and the nation to fulfill our potential. We look forward to working with you over the life of this Parliament to address this urgent issue.