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<p> </p><p>Skills policy is devolved so this answer refers to policy in England only.</p><p>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>One of the Government's priorities is to ensure that all adults
have the level of English, maths and digital skills to help them find and sustain
employment, as well as achieving other positive outcomes such as improved health and
well-being.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We are implementing a major programme of
reform to raise the quality and standards of these vital subjects in adult education
which will improve the quality of the teaching workforce, reward the best providers
and ensure learners are stretched to achieve the best they can.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
</p><p>We are investing £30m this year and next to attract the best graduates to teach
in further education (FE) and to provide opportunities for existing teachers to improve
their skills. As part of a £15m bursary scheme between 2013-15 we are offering up
to £20,000 to the best and brightest graduates to teach in FE. In January 2014 we
announced further measures to improve the workforce including; a golden-hello scheme
offering a bonus of £7,500 to maths graduates in their second year of teaching; a
recruitment incentive scheme offering £20,000 to providers for taking on a specialist
maths graduate teacher; and a subject knowledge enhancement scheme to enable highly
qualified graduates who have the skills and aptitude to teach but need to develop
some specific maths skills before they start teacher training.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
</p><p>We have put English and maths at the heart of all our major programmes. From
2014/15 all intermediate Apprentices will be required to work towards achieving a
level 2 in English and maths and young people undertaking a traineeship will be required
to study English and maths unless they already have a level 2 qualification in English
and maths.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We fully fund all adults to achieve their
first English and maths GCSE as well as other qualifications which help them get to
that level. Our reforms to English and maths GCSEs will make them more rigorous and
help ensure that young people and adults develop the skills most relevant to employers.
The reformed GCSEs will be available for first teaching from September 2015 and our
ambition is for them to become the gold-standard measuring achievement at level 2
for all ages and ability levels.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We encourage and support
a wide range of different and flexible types of provision so that adults can learn
in a way that suits them, for example, learning in the workplace, Community Learning
including Family English, Maths and Language (FEML) provision, through traditional
college courses and using technology and online learning.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We
are making sure jobseekers on benefits have the best chance of finding employment
by helping them improve their literacy and numeracy skills. From April 2014, those
with poor spoken English which is preventing them from finding work have been expected
to train in English, with the possibility of losing their benefit if they choose not
to participate. In December 2014, we will launch the 18-21 Work Skills pilot which
will test different approaches to teaching and learning and the outcomes of mandating
new 18-21 year-old Jobseekers' Allowance claimants with English and maths below Level
2 to English and maths training for up to 16 hours per week, alongside their jobsearch.</p><p>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We have a substantial programme of research to identify the
most effective approaches to teaching and learning. In April, I announced the launch
of a new research centre with the Behavioural Rights Insight Team to bring the latest
findings from behavioural science to bear on the challenges of improving adult literacy
and numeracy.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Basic digital skills are now seen to be
as vital as literacy and numeracy, not just for employment but for all aspects of
life. The Government's recent Digital Inclusion Strategy set what actions we will
take to ensure everyone has these skills. The Strategy can be found at:</p><p> </p><p>
</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-digital-inclusion-strategy/government-digital-inclusion-strategy"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-digital-inclusion-strategy/government-digital-inclusion-strategy</a></p><p>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>For its part, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
(BIS) has committed over £30m over the last 5 years to UK online centres to help more
people develop the basic digital skills needed to use a computer, and to get online
safely and securely. This has so far helped over 1.25 million people, most of whom
were adults, get online. A £1m extension to the current programme will help another
43,000 people to get online. This is aimed at hard to reach groups, many who are socially
excluded. We are currently in the process of tendering a new programme with the aim
to get another 1million people online in the next 3-5 years.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
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