Adult literacy and numeracy 'among the worst in OECD': Most cannot understand an electricity bill, say researchers

The average adult's reading ability means they are unable to understand their electricity bills and cannot make head or tail of classic texts such as Don Quijote.

Overall, the country has basic academic levels of 21 and 19 per cent lower than the average for the OECD in reading comprehension and 23 and 22 per cent lower in maths.

Japan and Finland, with 296 and 288 points respectively, came out with the highest levels and, in these and others such as Sweden, The Netherlands and Slovakia, the average A-level or BTEC qualified adult with a mid-range grade – the equivalent in Spain being Bachillerato or its vocational counterpart, the FP – has a far higher level of numeracy and literacy than a typical Spanish university graduate.

Although adults in jobs showed better levels than those who are currently unemployed, their abilities in maths and reading were still far below the average for the jobless in over half the other countries in the OECD.

The study, by the Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competency (PIAAC), involved reading and maths tests on 157,000 people in 23 countries aged between 16 and 65.

A total of 6,055 of these were Spanish, 14 per cent of whom were immigrants living in Spain.

Only five per cent of Spanish adults were graded at level 5 – the highest – in reading, and four per cent in level 5 in maths.

And IT knowledge is sorely lacking, the research showed.

According to the final report, millions of adults in Spain are so ignorant in computer application use that they do not even know how to use a mouse.

This is the case with one in four adults in Spain, South Korea, Poland, Italy and the Czech Republic, compared to just one in 14 in Norway, The Netherlands and Sweden.

A total of 27 per cent of Spanish adults fell below the standard of level 1 in reading, and 31 per cent in numeracy, the lowest of five levels.

Of those who fell into level 1, or did not make the minimum grade, there were three times as many jobseekers as employed people – 28 per cent compared to 8.4 per cent – and in any jobs they had had in the past, their salary was on average less than half of that of those with better mathematical levels, or 68 per cent compared to 155 per cent.

Men fared better in maths and women in reading, and the younger age-groups – those between 16 and 34 – had higher numeracy and literacy levels than those in the 55-65 age-group.

The difference between the youngest and oldest groups in the study was 37 per cent, whereas in the rest of the OECD this gap was 27 per cent.

Vice-secretary general of the OECD Yves Leterme, during his presentation of the results in Madrid, said it was 'clear' that the last two education reforms – which were brought into effect within just over eight years of each other and by two different governments – were 'not working'.

He stressed that 'without adequate basic competencies', people were left 'on the edge of society' and however sophisticated the levels of technological development in a country were, they would be useless in aiding economic growth.

“Such countries cannot compete in today's closely-connected global economy,” stated Leterme.

He said that although Spain 'cannot change the past', it has to work hard on the future to ensure that its adults had basic abilities that allowed them to obtain 'better jobs' and consequently, 'better quality of life and economic stability'.