Let's Champion Skills For Life

‘Get rid of your gremlins and get on’ was the message and the image of a grimacing gremlin; hissing and sneering at an unhappy looking man, still lingers in the mind. This was the TV campaign to promote Skills For Life learning which broke onto our screens in 2005.

Skills For Life remains a key issue in education and the workplace. We are still pursued by the ‘gremlins’ of low literacy, numeracy and ICT skills. The latest UK statistics (TUC, 2011) show the scale of the problem:

• 5 million UK adults have poor literacy skills. 
• More than a fifth of UK adults lack basic numeracy skills
• Over 9 million UK are not using the internet.  

A person with poor literacy, numeracy or ICT skills will face tough challenges in our competitive modern economy. They are much more likely to drop out of education, to remain unemployed and to experience poor mental health (Bynner and Parsons, 1997). The stigma of having poor basic skills (skills for life) means that people will cover up the problem in order to avoid potential embarrassment.

So how can we empower Skills For Life learners to get rid of their gremlins and 'get on'? There is help at hand: the local public library and Skills For Life champion.

As a Skills For Life champion, my role is to promote awareness of what courses and resources are on offer to support Skills For Life learning. Many of these courses/services are free for those who are unemployed/on benefits or retired. Public libraries provide free beginner's ICT sessions run by librarians. For more information on these, contact your local public library.

For a range of useful resources on Skills For Life education see : http://www.unionlearn.org.uk/skills/index.cfm

Other useful resources:

Literacy courses/resources

LearnDirect  http://learndirect.co.uk/courses/

BBCSkillswise English (provides notes and practice questions) http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/english

The Reading Agency  http://www.readingagency.org.uk/

Numeracy courses/resources

Learn Direct http://www.learndirect.co.uk/

BBCSkillswise Maths (provides notes and practice questions)  –

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/maths

Graham, A. (2008) Basic Mathematics, New Ed. , Hodder Headline: London

ICT courses

Beginner’s ICT taster sessions (provided free by most public libraries)

Learn Direct (provides ECDL training) http://www.learndirect.co.uk/

BBC First Click (resources for computer beginners) http://www.bbc.co.uk/connect/campaigns/first_click.shtml

Home and Learn (resources for ECDL training)  http://www.homeandlearn.co.uk/

References

Trade Union Congress (2011) Union Learn: Skills For Life , Available at: http://www.unionlearn.org.uk/skills/index.cfm  [Accessed 25/11/11]
Bynner, J. and Parsons, S. (1997) It Doesn't Get Any Better, The Basic Skills Agency: London
Available at: http://shop.niace.org.uk/media/catalog/product/a/7/a729_it_doesnt_get_any_better_english.pdf

[Accessed 25/11/11]