In March 2014, Slovenia launched the OECD's programme for international assessment of adult competences (PIAAC) data collection. The assessment will be conducted from April to December 2014, where over 5 000 adults aged between 16 and 65 from all Slovene regions will be surveyed. There are 60 trained interviewers who will be closely monitored by the PIAAC data collection team at the Slovenian Institute for Adult Education (SIAE).
PIAAC in Slovenia is part of a larger project ‘Assessment of adult competences 2013-15’. The survey is conducted by a consortium of partner institutions: SIAE (leading partner), Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia as well as three faculties of the University of Ljubljana.
In addition to meeting international goals of the PIAAC project, the Slovene survey is more comprehensive, since changes in literacy and adult participation in education are also observed.
The empirical component of PIAAC is complemented by an array of eight thematic studies, serving as the analytical component of the survey. Thematic studies enable an insight into the interconnection between the following variables: low literacy; poverty and unemployment; the gap between literacy of pupils and students and their peers not in education; differences among regions in levels of literacy, associated with economic development; the gap in inclusion of adults in education, regarding already achieved level of education and level of literacy; impact of demands of a working position for use and sustainability of writing skills; and impact of parents’ education and literacy on academic results of children.
This survey is of national importance to adult education and as well as other sectors, particularly employment, social affairs, culture, health, economy and agriculture.
PIAAC results are expected to be a major asset for research and evidence-based policy-making in adult education in Slovenia. They will indicate how successful education policy is, especially adult education, and will form the base for designing policies and measures for accelerating literacy levels of the population, developing existing and new educational programmes, as well as teacher training.
Results of the PIAAC survey in Slovenia will be presented in 2016.