Assessment tool to lift youth literacy & numeracy launched
Tertiary Education, Skills and EmploymentA new online tool to help educators lift the literacy and numeracy skills of young New Zealanders was launched in Wellington today at the National Symposium for Literacy and Numeracy for Adults by Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, and Employment Steven Joyce.
The “Youth Option” for the Literacy and Numeracy for Adults Assessment Tool is tailored for young learners between the ages of 15 and 25. The Assessment Tool is the key diagnostic tool of literacy and numeracy competency for adults in New Zealand.
”As the New Zealand economy recovers, it is crucial that all New Zealanders have sufficient skills to take up opportunities and succeed in the modern labour market,” Mr Joyce says.
“Improving literacy and numeracy for young second-chance learners is an important part of lifting their confidence and their participation in New Zealand’s economic recovery.”
Mr Joyce says the Youth Option will help with three of the key priorities from our Tertiary Education Strategy. These include lifting adult literacy and numeracy, getting at-risk young people into a career, and boosting achievement for Maori and Pasika.
“The tool will help educators improve the literacy and numeracy skills of young learners, including the increasing numbers of young Māori and Pasifika learners participating in tertiary education through programmes such as Youth Guarantee and Maori and Pasifika Trades Training,” Mr Joyce says.
The Youth Option is just one of several planned adaptations to the Assessment Tool. The Government is also funding enhancements targeted specifically to Māori learners and for learners with English as a second language. These changes are expected to be available in 2015.
The “Youth Option” tool is available at: https://assess.literacyandnumeracyforadults.com/youthLogin.aspx