Literacy news
Focus on family learning in adult literacy inquiry
8 Sep 2011
The National Literacy Trust welcomes the findings of the year-long Independent Inquiry into Adult Literacy, published today (8 September 2011), the 45th UNESCO International Literacy Day.
The main findings of the report are that addressing adult literacy needs must be regarded as a moral imperative and the cycle of inter-generational difficulties with literacy must be broken. The National Literacy Trust welcomes the focus on family literacy and learning programmes. In particular the recommendation that the Department for Education, the Department of Business, Innovation & Skills and local authorities must work in partnership with primary schools to raise awareness of and respond to the impact of adult literacy difficulties on children; and the recommendation that every primary school should be challenged to organise a family learning programme.
The National Literacy Trust sat on the inquiry’s expert group on family literacy. Judith Parke says:
We are delighted by the inquiry’s focus on family literacy and learning programmes. This supports the need to address literacy holistically and echoes our work with local areas over the last 18 years.
The organisations working with us to address literacy issues in their local areas are proving that they are not intractable and big changes really do happen when it is, crucially, everybody’s business: parents, neighbours, local services and strategists, politicians, schools, nurseries and businesses.
The independent inquiry was supported by the National Institute for Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) and the commissioners of the Inquiry were led by former Education Minister Lord Boswell of Aynho. To find out more about the inquiry and its recommendations visit: http://www.niace.org.uk
Read our report Local authorities improving life chances: A review of a new approach to raising literacy levels here
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