Over the past years, the issue of “basic skills” has gained particular attention in most European countries. Of particular concern is what is generally called ‘functional literacy’ and ‘functional numeracy’: one of every four adults fails to reach minimum literacy levels for coping with everyday life (OECD/Statistics Canada, 2000:12).

In addition to this situation, Europe has faced an unprecedented influx of refugees and migrants. Although most member states have started to provide language learning programmes, a very large proportion of these individuals have very limited literacy and numeracy skills which prevents them from integrating into the culture of their host countries and from participating at the labour market.

 Demand for unskilled and low-skilled workers declines as a result of technical change, which requires more advanced skills. Employers also confirm a requirement for better communication and social skills than are generally present in low-skilled workers. The increasing complexity of work processes requires also better literacy, numeracy and social or “personal social and learning to learn” (DG ESC, 2019) skills also at lower work levels.

In addition to this, COVID-19 is changing the way training is being provided. Increasing on-line learning requires a change in teaching and learning methods, and creative and story based techniques can be very supportive in this process.

The “Basic Skills Training for Low-Skilled Migrants” project (2018-1-DE02-KA204-005032), has identified four work sectors with a demand for special workplace training: construction, cleaning, tourism and care focusing, each of them, on basic literacy, numeracy and communication skills.

The learning approach is action and story based oriented so that competences are trained and reflected in numerous situations using real life scenarios. By using four protagonists (or avatars), learners can experience how typical professional situations can be managed competently through the application of basic skills particularly required in these work sectors.

The target group of Workplace Basic Skills is people with poor literacy, numeracy and social skills. The people with these deficits are mainly migrants and refugees, but also local, mostly low-skilled people.

Therefore, the overall objective of our project is to improve literacy, numeracy and social skills in the workplace for low-level educated adults.

Our objectives include, among others:

• to develop Workplace Basic Skills materials for literacy, numeracy and communication training in construction, cleaning, tourism and care;
• to design a Workplace Basic Skills Guidelines for Trainers with information on the target group and how to train social and communication skills particularly required in these professions. Moreover, they will focus on European work ethic and how to
  consider equality and democracy aspects in all parts of the training process;
• to provide these environments at an e-platform and through mobile applications as a very useful incentive for learning, especially basic skills, because there is noticeably less stigma attached learning ICT than attending an alphabetization course;
• to provide all materials in English, Spanish, Greek, Slovenia, Slovakian, Italian, German,  Bulgarian. Additional explanations and motivational and didactic background also be produced in Arabic and Pashtun.

The immediate impact, already during the project’s lifetime, is the transfer of knowledge and skills to more than 100 basic skills trainers working with at least ten times more learners from different backgrounds, and to more than 150 experts and key actors who are being involved in the validation phase, where the project is at the moment. After having been involved in the pilot tests, they will be able to implement the project’s concept in their regular activities.

For more information about the project, partners and its results, visit our web site and e-platform:

https://wbs.ili.eu/ (link is external)

https://training.wbs.ili.eu/main/toolbox.php (link is external)

References:

DG Education, Sports and Culture (2019). Key competences for lifelong learning. Luxembourg. Publication office of the EU. Retrieved 22/05/2020 from: https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/297a33c8-a1f3-11e9-9d01-01aa75ed71a1 (link is external)

OECD and Statistics Canada (2000), Literacy in the information age: Final report of the International Adult Literacy Survey, Paris. Retrieved 22/05/2020 from: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/literacy-in-the-information-age_9789264181762-en (link is external)