A team, focused and committed to raising levels of adult literacy and numeracy in Scotland, was announced by Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, Henry McLeish today.
The 'Literacy 2000' team will be led by Stephanie Young of Scottish Enterprise Glasgow. The other members will be Catherine Macrae of the City of Edinburgh Council, and HM Inspectors Anne Pia and Gerry Cairns. A dedicated group of three Scottish Executive staff will work with the team.
The remit of 'Literacy 2000', that will report to Mr McLeish by December 2000, is to provide a focus for the development of national policy and strategy on adult literacy and numeracy; and to
- establish an audit of needs
- prepare a comprehensive audit of provision
- identify the key issues that require to be addressed
- identify and initiate the key actions that require to be taken
- engage with the main provider and customer groups
- suggest performance indicators to ensure effective provision
- suggest targets to drive improvements forward
- detail resources
- indicate how resources should best be applied.
Announcing the details, Mr McLeish said: "It is unacceptable in a modern Scotland to have so many people with literacy and numeracy problems. Their quality of life is lessened and in some cases they are unable to make an effective contribution to the Scottish economy. I want this team to consult and take advice from those who need help with literacy and numeracy, our prime concern, as well as from employers and trade unions, the local authorities, further education colleges and the voluntary sector. It is vital the team gathers as much information as possible about how to best tackle this issue.
