Events

On 28 June 2021, the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) will organize a webinar on the assessment of youth and adult literacy and numeracy skills. The webinar, ‘Youth and adult literacy: Better data for more efficient policies’, will focus on the current situation of skill assessment globally. Moreover, it will identify opportunities and present examples of how the implementation of national literacy and numeracy skill assessment surveys has helped to strengthen, improve and/or inspire public policies for youth and adult literacy.

The webinar targets policy-makers and experts in the field of youth and adult literacy and numeracy skills development. UNESCO Member States that do not yet have a skill assessment in place will have the opportunity to hear from others how such surveys have highlighted the importance of youth and adult literacy and contribute to the development of better informed and more effective policies in selected countries.

Literacy and numeracy – represented in Target 4.6 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals – are vital for economic prosperity, social inclusion and sustainable development. Understanding how to invest in and foster these skills requires information about people’s ability to use literacy and numeracy in their everyday lives. Without accurate information about the distribution of skills in the youth and adult population, it may prove difficult to introduce new technologies and ways of working, which, in turn, slows down improvements in well-being and tends to widen socio-economic inequalities.

High-quality data on adult skills and competencies enables evidence-based policy-making to improve skills governance and learning systems; however globally, data availability remains insufficient. While collective efforts have led to gradual progress with respect to increasing literacy rates, there is still a lack of data on literacy in many countries. Only a small part of the world's population is currently covered by direct assessments. The situation therefore calls for special attention as well as collective engagement.

UIL encourages UNESCO Member States to implement youth and adult skills assessment surveys to have more detailed data to guide evidence-based policy-making in the field of lifelong learning. This webinar will provide a basis for discussion on how to enhance skills assessment across the globe.

Date and time 

Monday, 28 June 2021, 10:00 to 12:00 (CEST)

Registration

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_XUR3ssleQu2rkS-LGOnubg

Programme

Download

Further information

UIL Policy Brief 12 on direct assessment: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000375129.locale=en

UIL Policy Brief 13 on numeracy: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000375130.locale=en

• LANGUAGE OF EVENT: English, French

URL:

https://uil.unesco.org/event/webinar-youth-and-adult-literacy-better-data-more-efficient-policies