Civil servants throughout Wales are well on their way to improving their essential skills and knowledge. PCS representatives Peter Harris, Jeff Evans and Anne Jenkins pictured with Assembly
Member Carwyn Jones
Funded by the Welsh
Assembly Government’s
Wales Union Learning
Fund (WULF), an innovative
project has been introduced
by the Public & Commercial
Services (PCS) Union. The
PCS Project aims to assess
the skills shortages of civil
servants and to address
these by upskilling staff
through a blend of traditional
and learndirect courses.
Literacy and numeracy
are fundamental skills and
research indicates that
amongst adults in Wales,
25% do not have Level 1
literacy skills; and 53% do
not have Level 1 numeracy
skills. These basic skills,
together with
proficiency
with IT are essential skills
needed in order to be able
to function and progress at
work.
PCS Basic Skills Project
Worker, Anne Jenkins
explains: “We were aware
that a large proportion of
adults have difficulty with
basic skills and wanted to
do our utmost to make sure
that employees have all the
support they need. We
firstly had to determine the
extent of the situation by
ensuring that as many staff
as possible went through
the screening process”.
Due to the stigma
associated with basic skills
training, staff were initially
concerned that they may
be seen as underachievers
and were wary about
becoming involved in the project. To help uptake,
PCS advertised that learndirect courses would
be on offer to all those who participated
in screenings. “learndirect courses have
been a valuable aid in
promoting these screenings,
and the take up of courses
has been considerable with
103 learners opting for 625
courses over a 2 month
period”.
Jeff Greenidge, Head of learndirect in Wales adds: “Using IT to promote literacy
and numeracy is essential.
No one likes to think of
themselves as a below
average reader or writer but
there is less embarrassment
when admitting that you are
not good, or a bit rusty with
IT. Getting staff involved is a
huge hurdle but using IT to
deliver Basic Skills has been
fundamental in the success
of the project. learndirect is delighted to support the
PCS Union in bringing down
barriers to learning.
If you would like more
information on the PCS
Project, please contact
Anne Jenkins, Basic
Skills Project Worker on
029 2066 6363 or visit
www.pcs.org.uk.
