The results of the survey on adults’ skills levels (PIAAC) prove that groups underrepresented in education should be invested in also in the future

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published today the results of the survey on adults’ skills levels (PIAAC). The survey assessed the basic information processing skills needed by the adult population (aged 16 to 65) in different walks of life. By international comparison, Finland is among the few countries where the skills of the adult population have improved from over slightly more than a decade ago. 

The survey focused on literacy, numeracy and adaptive problem-solving skills. The survey also looked into the correlation between skills and education, employment, and wellbeing, as well as participation in society.

According to the PIAAC survey, inequality in skills is an internationally deteriorating problem. In Finland, the percentage of adults with insufficient skills in literacy, numeracy, or adaptive problem-solving skills is lower than in other countries.

Regardless, there are over 300 000 adults of working age in Finland with insufficient skills in all three skill areas. The employment participation and employment rates for this group are lower than for people of working age on a higher skills level. Strengthening basic skills could be one measure to raise the employment rate.

SECLE promotes the participation of underrepresented groups in training

In 2020, the OECD published a report on continuous learning in working life in Finland (oecd.org). Amongst the findings, the report stated that people who are underrepresented in education (people who do not participate in training as much as others) should be better reached in Finland.  

From the very onset of its activity, SECLE has advanced the participation of underrepresented groups in training. The competence services we finance are principally trainings that are shorter in duration than degree-awarding education. For such services and training, the underrepresented groups are one of the most important target groups.

We require recipients of funding also to offer guidance and other measures of support to training participants, such as career counselling or identifying challenges in learning. This is one way of supporting groups underrepresented in training in their advancing towards a higher level of skills and education.

Basic skills are strengthened through several different projects

During the past three years, we have advanced underrepresented groups’ participation in training for example through the following projects:

• We have piloted national skills badges through skills training for prisoners.
• We have launched a material bank for facilitating learning at work offering information and tools for taking challenges in learning into account in working life (in Finnish).
• We have published an interim report on the study looking into how receiving information related to education and training, as well as guidance related to training increases the chance of low-educated people seeking training. The related outreach pilot project has already distributed information on education to over 1 600 people with an education limited to basic education. The study project was launched in 2022, with the final report to be published in 2025.
• In 2025 we will carry out a pilot project related to people outside of the workforce. The aim of the project is to study and survey, if intensive guidance can help certain groups of people outside of the workforce to develop their skills or to seek to enter the workforce. More information on this pilot project will be published in spring 2025.