‘Literacy is earned through fun, provocation and stimulation’

About 40% of adults in Portugal can only understand simple texts and solve basic arithmetic problems, according to an Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) study from 2023, comparing 160.000 people in 31 countries. Only Chileans turned out to have more difficulties in interpreting texts or performing mathematical calculations.

The study shows that 15% of the more than 3000 Portuguese participants are able to understand short and simple sentences and that another 27% understand short texts. Thus, 42% of the population – representing 6.6 million people between 16 and 65 years old – has a very low level of literacy.

Four out of ten adults can only do basic calculations with whole numbers. They do understand the meaning of decimal places and can add and subtract small numbers but they have difficulties in understanding rates and ratios and calculate proportions.

Another area analyzed was problemsolving, in which over 40% of the Portuguese obtained very low results as they could only solve simple problems with few variables and little accessory information.

Researchers point out that adults with better numeracy skills are more likely to be employed, earn higher wages and are more satisfied with their lives than low-skilled people. ‘However, despite efforts of governments to strengthen adult education, the survey reveals a very unequal picture of skills with a growing number of people poorly prepared for the future’, warns Andreas Schleicher, OECD director of Education and Skills.

In the last decade, only Finland and Denmark have recorded significant improvements in adult literacy, while the other participant nations recorded stagnation or decline.

The skills of Portuguese adults in literacy, numeracy and problem solving already begins to decrease from the age of 25 whereas the youngest adults – those between 16 and 24 years old – have the greatest capacities in the three areas, before dropping considerably and reaching minimums in older adults between 55 and 65 years old.

‘But surprisingly – unlike other European countries – this proficiency already drops considerably in the group of 25-34 years, whereas in most countries the top of skills is in the group of adults between 25 and 34 years’, highlights João Queirós, one of the national coordinators of the study.

Reasons might be the relative high rate of school dropout as well as difficulties in access to higher education.

Another worrying fact is that adults with higher education in Portugal obtained lower results than adults with secondary education in Finland. The value of the university degree differs between countries because it is also related to the quality of education.

‘We need to understand why in some countries students are acquiring training without the necessary skills’, says Claudia Tamassia of PIAAC (OECD’s Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies).

Her observation is shared by the National Education Council (CNE). ‘It is necessary to innovate in teaching and assessment practices and environments in which students are challenged to critical thinking, to be autonomous and to be able to integrate knowledge and skills’, declared its president Domingos Fernandes recently.

Enjoy your week          Approveite a semana               (Pic Público/Sapo)