Literacy, numeracy, as well as the ability to communicate well and to think critically, are skills that are often taken for granted. Yet without these skills employees are less able to develop the specialist and job-specific skills that increase their productivity. Employees are also less able to increase their incomes and their ability to adapt to changes in technology and in the economy without these skills.
Raising the literacy, language and numeracy skills of the workforce is a key government priority for tertiary education because these skills provide the essential base for building a competitive, highly-skilled and productive workforce.
Improvements in literacy, language and numeracy skills contribute to many business benefits such as improved product quality, reduced waste, improved health and safety, better workplace communications and progression to higher level skills. They also contribute to social benefits such as improved health, more active involvement by parents in their children’s education, as well as increased workforce and community participation.
PaMPITO is committed to raising foundation skills within our industry sectors. We work closely with the Tertiary Education Commission and specialist literacy and numeracy training providers to keep building foundation skills of employees.
What are foundation skills?
| English language |
Understanding and responding to oral and written instructions, information and procedures in English, fluency of speech, increasing every day and workplace vocabulary. |
| Verbal communication |
Speaking up at meetings, listening critically to instructions, communicating with co-workers. |
Reading and writing |
Completing workplace forms and documentation, reading and writing reports, understanding health and safety and other workplace signs. |
| Numeracy |
Completing workplace calculations accurately, counting, measuring and estimating at work. |
| Critical thinking |
Understanding what the company is trying to achieve and the employee’s role in achieving team, department and organisational goals. |
Government funding for foundation skills
Employees may qualify for free training if they are a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident of working age and if they are considered to have no or low qualifications, or low literacy and numeracy skills.
In the workplace context, employees who are not always able to meet the reading, writing and numeracy demands of the job or who have insufficient English language to communicate at work would be eligible.
This definition means there may be a broad range of people in your organisation who could qualify.
Government funding can support your employees to improve their foundation skills so they can go on to develop the necessary technical and job specific skills as well as achieve qualification outcomes.
How PaMPITO can help
Most of PaMPITO’s level 1 – 3 qualifications have the development of literacy skills embedded in them as well as technical and job specific skills. All employees embarking on any level 1 – 3 programme will complete a literacy assessment, which will identify whether they need any additional support and training.
PaMPITO works with several literacy providers and has teamed up with ITAT (a specialist training provider for the plastics industry) to offer foundation skills training that can also lead to the development of technical skills and nationally recognised qualifications.
Free training
We can help you to access up to 40 hours of free training per employee to help lift their foundation skills, if the literacy assessment shows they need extra support. We will also make sure the training is pitched to address the specific skills they need for their work and to enable them to progress seamlessly into industry training.
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