| COMPANIES across Wales should be aiming aiming to tackle poor literacy and numeracy rates in the workforce.
More than half of all adults aged 16 to 65 in Wales have poor numeracy skills and one in four has a reading age of 11 or below, according to figures from the Welsh Assembly Government. The figures reported in the Western Mail earlier this year, show that 25% of 15 to 65-year-olds have a reading age of 11 or below and 53% have numeracy levels of 11 or below. These are shocking figures and an indictment of decades of ineffective meddling and a lack of the vision needed to reshape our education system in line with the needs of the 21st century. Companies have warned that some employees struggle to write a letter and there are fears Wales will get left behind in the global economy unless basic skills are improved. More than 220 employers in Wales have so far signed the EMPLOYER PLEDGEwith the Basic Skills Agency and its providers to provide reading, writing and maths help in the workplace. The WAG funded EMPLOYER PLEDGE initiative is certainly something we should be getting behind. If anyone would like to know more, or know of a local business that would like to know more, they can check out the WAG website: http://new.wales.gov.uk/topics/educationandskills/skillsandtraining/employerpledge/?lang=en Or contact Andy Chyba direct. |
EMPLOYER PLEDGE – to improve employees basic skills – a WAG initiative worth promoting.
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Bridgend's Green Leftie 