Abstract:

Adult literacy and its promotion are high on the political agenda in many countries. Every country needs to ensure that its society has a sufficient level of education, that the knowledge and skills acquired in the education system meet the demands of the labour market, and that adults have the opportunity and motivation to continuously improve their skills in the context of the changing world of work. The country's commitment to lifelong learning in Europe is also guided by the European Commission's objectives and indicators for monitoring lifelong learning. Therefore, research on adult literacy, the comparative analysis of its results between different countries and the contextualisation of these results become guidelines for the formulation and implementation of lifelong learning policies. The aim of the research is to compare and group adult literacy in different European countries. The research draws on data from the International Survey of Adult Skills OECD PIAAC. European countries that participated in PIAAC cycle 1 were selected. Three aspects of literacy were analysed: Reading Literacy, Numeracy and Problem Solving in a Technology Rich Environment. The analysis revealed that three groups of countries can be distinguished in the analysis of adult literacy in Europe: Countries with high literacy rates, countries with literacy rates close to the OECD average, and countries that are below the OECD average. Higher adult literacy rates are related to long-term and consistent lifelong learning strategies implemented by countries, which have led to the creation of the necessary adult education infrastructure and the provision of learning services that meet the needs of both learners and the labour market.

Keywords:

Adult literacy, lifelong learning, PIAAC.