Closing the skills gap THURSDAY, 24 May 2007, was Learning at Work Day in England, an annual awareness campaign that promotes workplace-learning events. Learning at Work Day was started in 1999 as part of Adult Learners' Week to draw attention to the importance of

Many countries face a shortage of skilled workers.

Lord Leitch, in a special report of the National Employment Panel, said, "Despite recent improvement, there is consensus that we need to be much more ambitious and a clear message that the UK must raise its game."

Gordon Brown: vocational training a central issue.

The report stated that more than a third of adults of working age lacked a basic qualification for leaving school. Five million adults had no qualifications at all. One in six adults did not have the literacy skills expected of an 11-year old, and half did not have that level of functional math. In May, Gordon Brown, England's soon-to-be Prime Minister pledged new vocational programs to keep teenagers in school. He wants to see teenagers who are behind given personal mentors and allowed to spend a day a week out of the classroom training for jobs.

America's Perfect Storm

The U.K. is not the only country facing a skills gap. The Conference Board of Canada ranks the education and skills of the top-12 western nations like this:

Education and Skill Indicators

1. Finland 2. Norway 2. Sweden 4. Canada 5. Denmark 6. United Kingdom 7. New Zealand 7. Australia 9. United States 10. Ireland 10. Germany 10. Switzerland

For the last twenty years in the U.S., there was decline in factory jobs and constraints in school-budgets. Vocational training almost disappeared in many areas.

Much of the American education is still bogged down with outdated curricula promoted by textbook publishers and other bureaucracies. High schools are prized for their ability to place candidates in 4-year colleges and not career education. As a result, a full third of students drop out as soon as they can—without preparation for any career. In 2001, the American Management Association

Vocational training in China: 27 million enrolled in 200,000 vocational programs.

reported that 34% of job applicants lack required basic skills.

The Community Service Society of New York recently reported that nearly 170,000 New York City residents ages 16 to 24 are "socially disconnected"—not in school, not employed, and not seeking work.

A report from the Educational Testing Service, America's Perfect Storm: Three Forces Changing Our Nation's Future, looks at three powerful forces that are emerging in the U.S.:

• Growing disparities (in reading and math) between advanced and poor readers
• Widening gaps between rich and poor
• Sweeping demographic shifts resulting from immigration (less education, lower skills)

Large numbers do not have the reading and math skills needed in an increasingly competitive workplace, large bureaucratic institutions, and complex legal, health care, and retirement systems.

Connecting School with Work

California students in a career-education program: for many, a better path to language and math.

Because the manufacturing sector is slowly recovering, the demand for skilled workers is rapidly rising. Vocational training is no longer seen as a second-best education path. Some states are re-inventing and beefing up their technical-training programs. California is home to one-in-nine U.S. students. Last year, Governor Schwarzenneger—a product of Austria's vocational training—steered

This April, David Brewer, the new Superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School District, pledged a new future for "career technical education." The school district already operates 11 Skills Centers and 70 special career academies (schools within schools). In the last nine months, the district approved of 179 "small schools," learning communities with career-related themes.

By practicing useful skills, students make a link between school and what they could be earning in the real world. For a teenager who might otherwise be bored and ready to drop out of school, this connection can be a powerful motivator to stay and study.

Japan's Expertise in Vocational Training

Japan has long been recognized as a leader in vocational training, which begins in their elementary schools. After the 9th grade, students who don't make it into university can choose a technical path in one of these different environments: Three-year full-time vocational high school. Four-year part-time vocational high school. Five-year courses at technical colleges offering a diploma equal to two years of college.

Vocational training for Persons with Disabilities in Myanmar (Burma) operated by Japan's Association for Aid and Relief.

For an introduction to Japan's educational system, go to:
http://www.mext.go.jp/english/org/eshisaku/eshougai.htm

Self-Study Course for Adult Educators Each year many people start work in adult education and literacy development without much background in the field. Others who have worked in the field for a while may wish to deepen their knowledge. Tom Sticht has developed a free online course on Adult Education and Literacy in the United States for self-study. The course is built on 12 reports of Sticht's on adult literacy, also available for free online. Reading one report a week will provide a one-semester, 12-week course of self-study. To access the course, go to: http://adulted.about.com/od/adultbasiceducation /a/sticht.htm

Adult literacy expert Tom Sticht

Badly designed ballots spoil Scotch election

IN the first week of May, badly designed ballots caused a scandalous upset in Scottish elections.

Martin Cutts of the Plain Language Commission reports: "Epithets such as scandal, fiasco, national humiliation, and catastrophe have been hurled after 1-in-20 ballots (perhaps 100,000) were rejected as 'spoiled' in the elections. The event evokes memories of the Palm Beach County debacle that saw George W. Bush elected to the White House in 2000.

"The Scottish National party won the election by only a single seat from the Scottish Labour party—which has been in power in Scotland for 50 years. The huge number of spoiled ballots almost certainly means that the country will get a government it doesn't want. In several constituencies, the wrong people have been elected. Legal challenges are expected."

For more information, go to:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/05/05/nfiasco105.xml

Plain Language in the News

New rules for Federal Courts win award:
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndm
ViewId=news_view&newsId=20070531005177&newsLang=en

Financial report too difficult for readers:
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_501378.html

CEO pay disclosures difficult as academic texts:
http://www.irwebreport.com/daily/2007/03/01/ceo-pay-disclosures-dense
-as-academic-texts/

Oregon governor signs plain-language bill:
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/argus/index.ssf?/base/news/
117985462844270.xml&coll=6

Bishop attacks accessibility of new liturgy:
http://www.religionnews.com/ArticleofWeek053107.html

Plain-language help for city councils in the UK: http://society.guardian.co.uk/localgovt/story/0,,2079981,00.html

Lord Greaves attacks "council-speak":
http://www.lancashireeveningtelegraph.co.uk/display.var.1401978.0.lib_
dems_declare_ war_on_councilspeak.php

Readability for prescription labels:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/
stories/050507dnbuspillbottles.35269df.html

Poverty, illiteracy still linked:
http://www.thestar.com/GlobalVoices/Junior/article/212087

Editing Readability Consulting Plain-Language Workshops

For a free consultation, call today: William H. DuBay Impact Information 126 E. 18th Street #C204 Costa Mesa, CA 92627 Phone: (949) 631-3309 http://www.impact-information.com © 2007 William H. DuBay