29-06-16 Greece country note on adult skills published

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development on June 28 released the results of the second round of its Survey of Adult Skills, or The Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), in which Greece participated.

This international survey is conducted in over 40 countries and measures the key cognitive and workplace skills needed for individuals, 16-65 years of age, to participate in society and for economies to prosper, as the OECD site notes.

The survey measures adults’ proficiency in key information-processing skills -literacy, numeracy and problem solving in technology-rich environments - and gathers information and data on how adults use their skills at home, at work and in the wider community.

Proficiency is described on a scale of 500 points divided into levels. Each level summarises what a person with a particular score can do. Six proficiency levels are defined for literacy and numeracy (Levels 1 through 5 plus below Level 1) and four are defined for problem solving in technology-rich environments (Levels 1 through 3 plus below Level 1).

In Greece, the study was conducted with a cooperation between the Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs, The General Secretariat of Lifelong Learning and the Youth, and The National Center of Social Research (ΕΚΚΕ), and the Hellenic Statistical Authority.

The 5,000 people who participated in the study were chosen randomly, so as to be representative of the various regions, age groups, professions, and other categories of the general population. The results of the PIAAC study internationally are used in the creation of policies for the development of human capital in countries and are the basis of all development efforts.

The Greece country note can be found at: http://www.oecd.org/skills/piaac/Skills-Matter-Greece.pdf