Adult learners 'being sold short'

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Basic learners are being "sold short" by short courses in literacy and numeracy, according to an education expert.

Professor Anna Vignoles of the Institute of Education argued that "short, sharp" courses are a waste of time and money.

Speaking at an Institute for Fiscal Studies conference in Cambridge, Vignoles said that Britain was still in the bottom half of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's international skills league tables.

The government has injected millions of pounds into adult learning in an attempt to improve skills.

And ministers have repeatedly stressed that improving numeracy and literacy in a recession is especially important.

Vignoles quoted National Audit Office figures which demonstrate that £995m has been spent on the government's 'Skills for life' programme.

The scheme was intended to build on basic skills in 2006/07 at an average cost of £500 per course.

She told the conference: "The array of low-level qualifications available to adults has not boosted productivity and earnings. Gains from workplace courses are particularly small."

And speaking to the BBC on Friday, Vignoles stressed that she did not believe that skills training was a waste of time.

But she added: "We have a big problem with adults having very poor reading and very poor numeracy. The government has invested heavily to improve the situation.

"I could find no evidence that the short, sharp basic skills courses that are currently being provided are actually improving workers' numeracy or literacy."

She explained that most basic skills are more readily learnt in early childhood.

"There is some evidence from the US that you need about 150 to 200 hours of tuition to make an impact," Vignoles explained.

"After these courses, the people do not have improved literacy and numeracy. We are selling them short, if that is the case."

But Alan Tuckett, chief executive of the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education, argued that Vignoles' findings were "simplistic" and only painted "a partial picture" about adult learning.

"Taking wage returns as a measure of whether we are having any economic impact is for itself a pretty vulnerable way of going about things," he told the BBC.

"The evidence is very powerful. If you don’t help adults improve their skills, their children don't thrive.

"Both employers and learners find short courses the stimulus to gain confidence, which in alliance with other forms of study to lead people to make progress."

A spokeswoman for the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills maintained that investment in adult learning was "money well spent".

"Professor Vignoles may argue that good basic skills are best acquired in childhood but we have no intention of writing off the 12 million adults who struggle with literacy or numeracy," she said.

"We will continue to invest so that even more adults can get a qualification, improve their self-confidence, get work, boost their earning power and help with their children's education.

"The £5bn we have spent since our 'Skills for life' strategy was launched in 2001 has enabled 5.7 million people to go on 12 million literacy, language and numeracy courses with over 2.8 million achieving first qualifications.

"This works out as £660 per achievement. We consider it money well spent."