Improving Adult Literacy in Scotland: page 10

Improving Adult Literacy in Scotland

All sectors should:

work in partnership to coordinate and plan locally based provision and pathways for learner progression;
ensure there are effective arrangements and resources in place to support learners with additional barriers to learning and to positively promote equality and diversity;
make effective use of ICT to increase access to learning and extend learners’ skills;
use appropriate assessment instruments to identify learners’ initial skill levels and assess progress;
maximise and make effective use of locally available resources and expertise;
work together to increase opportunities for learners to gain formal recognition of achievement;
establish systems to track learner transitions into and out of provision and end destinations;
engage in cross-sectoral evaluation of provision and use this process to improve services and transition arrangements for learners;
involve learners more effectively in evaluation and quality improvement processes;
ensure they have up-to-date knowledge and understanding of each other’s provision and services and apply this to plan appropriate and effective services for learners; and
take good account of Curriculum for Excellence when planning programmes and provision.

Local authority community learning and development services should:

ensure that strategic community planning partnerships involve all key partners, including colleges;
ensure that they have effective processes in place to capture and demonstrate the contribution of CLD/ALNPs and the impact of literacy provision on wider community outcomes;
take action to improve the quality and accessibility of accommodation for learning to individuals with disabilities; and
ensure that ICT equipment is up to date and meets current learner needs.

Prisons should:

establish and implement processes to identify the literacy levels of offenders and use this information to develop and implement a learning strategy to inform and direct providers in planning and delivering literacy provision;
improve access to literacy support for all offenders;
ensure offenders have opportunities to improve their literacy skills within wider prison activities including work sheds;
ensure the Prisoner Tracker System is used and maintained effectively by staff; and
review and amend the contractual arrangements with colleges to provide more responsive and flexible learning opportunities for offenders.

Colleges should:

ensure that their partner organisations, including guidance providers, have sufficient and current knowledge of what they offer and could provide for individual learners and the community; and
work closely with and assist CLD staff and CLD/ALNP agencies to increase opportunities for providing formal recognition of learner achievements.

Learning Connections should:

continue to develop stronger working relationships with Scotland’s Colleges at national level and strengthen relationships with colleges at local levels to encourage inter-agency working and progression to further learning; and
continue to take a lead role in national literacy developments, including supporting national and local partners.

Scottish Government should:

further encourage and ensure that all sectors work together to provide a coherent approach to improving the literacy skills of adults in Scotland.