$14.5m boost for literacy skills at work

Workers in need of literacy and numeracy skills can expect help from their employers after a $14.5 million business training injection from the Government.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the move was intended to boost productivity, with about 65 employers in retail, waste services and councils already signed up to the scheme.

The extra money is expected to support another 3500 people in accessing the basic education.

‘‘The world around us and the skills that our workforce need are changing. Those are huge challenges we need to get in front of.’’

For Samoan-born Ioane Paulo it meant he could better communicate with his colleagues. Now, he loves going to work and finds joy in helping his daughter with her school work.

‘‘When I started working I really struggled. Especially with the language and the numbers.’’

It was difficult to find work without those skills when he moved to New Zealand 22 years ago, but now he’s confident learning would help his career.

‘‘My advice is don’t sit there. Take the opportunity if they offer it to you.’’

Ardern said a prepared workforce in the age of automation would mitigate redundancy and help people move into new roles if they needed to. Education Minister Chris Hipkins said more needed to be done to lift adult literacy and numeracy, particularly in lowerskilled occupations.

The announcement comes as the Government’s overhaul of the NCEA system moves ahead, with plans to focus on literacy and numeracy to ensure students reach a certain standard in basic skills.

Hipkins said the changes would also help to give employers a clearer understanding of a person’s skill level.

‘‘The majority of kids who start school today will go into jobs that do not yet currently exist when they leave school,’’ he said.

‘‘We’re going to have to provide regular and ongoing on-the-job upskilling opportunities for everybody in the future because the education system cannot future-proof everybody with skills [if] we don’t yet know what they are.’’

He said it aligned with the Government’s reform of vocational education as more people accessed learning away from the classroom.

National Party employment spokesman Shane Reti said he supported the initiative. However, he believed the programme took from industry training organisations that would be overhauled through the reforms.

The latest Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies survey estimated 12 per cent of adult New Zealanders had a level 1 or below literacy understanding – 61 per cent of whom were in work.