Report raises concerns over levels of adult literacy

SDLP member for East Derry, John Dallat, has voiced concerns about the local educational system in light of new data that shows Northern Ireland has one of the lowest levels of adult literacy in Europe.

The International Adult Literacy Survey, which benchmarked Northern Ireland against countries such as Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands, revealed the province was performing poorly in terms of literacy rates, with 24 per cent of population meeting the criteria for illiteracy.

Mr Dallat commented that the survey “confirmed his worst fears” and that he believed there existed serious cause for concern regarding the current state of the province’s educational system.

The Minister, who was speaking after a meeting of the Committee for Employment and Learning, went on to describe the issue as a problem that affected “the fundamental human rights of one quarter of the population” who, he said, had been failed by an education system that was both under-funded and under-resourced.

Responding to the Department of Education’s plan to draft a Basic Skills Strategy for Northern Ireland, Mr Dallat said the “heat was now well and truly turned up” on finding genuinely effective ways of remedying the problem.

“Clearly if the working population in Northern Ireland doesn’t have the basic skills to compete against workers in other countries then that impact on all of use and must be of serious concern not just to employers but to the entire population.

“My main concern at the moment is that the Assembly will be pulled down and politicians who put self-interest before the needs of the people they claim to represent may extinguish the chink of light that was beginning to shine through for those who were disadvantaged in the past.” (CL)