NZ held back by basic skills issues
Adult learner Jeremy Frankum compiles his bookwork with support from Literacy Aotearoa tutor Rae Evans-Pater. Literacy South Canterbury celebrating International Literacy Day with games and lunch with adult learners. Jeremy Frankum that the student might need to focus on to improve their ability to complete their bookwork,’’ she said.
‘‘The tutor will work alongside them and just pop in a bit of punctuation or sentence structure or spelling, whatever that student’s goals are, that they are trying to improve on.
‘‘The incentive for the student is that they are completing their apprentice bookwork and for us we’re helping them to improve their literacy. It’s really rewarding work.’’
The challenges faced by many Kiwis were highlighted during last week’s Festival of Adult Learning, when a range of free courses were offered across Christchurch to help people improve their skills.
The festival culminated with International Literacy Day on Friday and as well as courses in literacy, numeracy and computing, local people attended workshops in subjects ranging from yoga and relaxation, to hazel-weaving for garden beds and how to spot fake news.
Adult Learners’ Week has been celebrated in New Zealand since 1998 and last year about 13,000 adults in greater Christchurch attended free courses.
‘‘During school I wasn’t really helped much.’’