Actions to Address Average Score in Literacy Component for Singaporean Adults in OECD Survey

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Ms Usha Chandradas, Nominated Member of Parliament

Question

To ask the Minister for Education in light of the recent results of the Survey of Adult Skills under OECD's Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies which indicate a decline in English literacy skills amongst older workers in Singapore, whether the Ministry has any initiatives in place to help Singaporeans maintain literacy levels as they age.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan, Pioneer

Question

To ask the Minister for Education (a) whether there are new or additional plans to address the findings of the latest survey results released by the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which indicate a decline and below-average performance in adult literacy after the age of 35; and (b) what do these findings mean for the competitiveness of our Singaporean workers and workforce, given that we depend on our human capital for our country's survival and prosperity.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Ms Foo Mee Har, West Coast GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education (a) how has the SkillsFuture movement supported the skills development and upgrading of different cohorts of Singaporeans aged (i) 25-39 (ii) 40-54 (iii) 55 and above; and (b) how does the performance of these cohorts compare with their international peers in terms of skills development and skills currency.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Ms See Jinli Jean, Nominated Member of Parliament

Question

To ask the Minister for Education regarding OECD's Survey of Adult Skills 2023 which found that the average score of the literacy component for Singapore adults aged 16 to 65 fell below OECD's average (a) which sectors recorded a score that is below the Singapore average; (b) what are the Whole-of-Government plans to improve the literacy of those in these sectors; and (c) what are the strategies to ensure that they can overcome literacy challenges to develop the skills needed to leverage on AI's potential fully.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Dr Wan Rizal, Jalan Besar GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education in respect of the results of International Assessment of Adult Competencies which is a global test of adult skills conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (a) what targeted initiatives are being implemented to address the decline in literacy skills among adults over 35 years old; and (b) how does the Ministry support individuals in multilingual work environments to maintain and enhance their English literacy skills.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Dr Wan Rizal, Jalan Besar GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education in view of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) study of adults' literacy in the latest cycle from 2022 to 2023 which awarded Singapore a score that aligns with the OECD average, whether measures are being taken by SkillsFuture Singapore to improve adaptive problem-solving skills among adults.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling, East Coast GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education regarding the recent report on the Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) (a) whether Singapore's SkillsFuture programme have objectives that measure outcomes in a similar way to PIAAC in terms of (i) social and economic impact (ii) performance of education and training system; and (b) whether specific areas of skills to be improved can be drawn from this report to enhance the SkillsFuture programme.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo, East Coast GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education in view of the results of the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies released by OECD which have indicated that Singapore scored at the average for adaptive problem-solving and flagged a significant decline in literacy after age of 35 (a) whether this affects the employability of workers within this age group as businesses adapt to rapid changes; and (b) whether there will be measures to work with employers and institutions to support and enhance the literacy skills of mid-career workers.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Assoc Prof Razwana Begum Abdul Rahim, Nominated Member of Parliament

Question

To ask the Minister for Education in light of the findings from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) Survey of Adult Skills 2023, (a) what age and culturally appropriate programmes are in place to support older Singaporeans improve their literacy, numeracy and adaptive problem-solving skills; and (b) what mechanisms are in place to track the success of these programmes.

Combined Response

1. Mr Speaker, my response will cover the oral questions raised by Ms Usha Chandradas, Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan, Ms Foo Mee Har, Dr Wan Rizal, Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling and Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo, scheduled for the sitting on 7 January. My response will also cover the matters raised in the oral PQ scheduled for the sitting on or after 9 January from Assoc Prof Razwana Begum Abdul Rahim, and the two written PQs scheduled for sittings on 7 January and on or after 9 January 2025 from MP Ms See Jinli Jean and Dr Wan Rizal, please. I invite Members to seek clarifications as needed.

2. The Survey of Adult Skills is developed by the OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) to assess the proficiency of adults in literacy, numeracy and adaptive problem-solving skills. These are key information processing skills that are used and developed at work and in daily life, and also enable the acquisition of new knowledge and skills. Thus far, two PIAAC cycles have been conducted – the first from 2014 to 2015 and the second, more recently, from 2022 to 2023.

3. Overall, we have made progress since the first PIAAC cycle. Singapore was the most improved country for numeracy alongside Finland while our literacy proficiency scores remained stable. Our adaptive problem-solving score was comparable to OECD's mean.

4. In this latest cycle, the OECD has found that in the majority of countries, including Singapore, older adults have lower skills proficiency. When comparing adults born in the same years across the two cycles, the OECD also found that nearly half of the countries had substantial age-related skill losses. In Singapore, this phenomenon was seen for literacy skills, but not in numeracy.

5. Further studies will be needed to understand these findings. But these observed trends are likely due to a combination of several factors.

1. First, the cohort effect. In Singapore, our education system has developed rapidly over the past decades, and younger cohorts have benefitted from significantly improved educational opportunities compared to earlier cohorts. This is reflected in the OECD PIAAC scores where our younger adults scored near the top in all three proficiency domains, while older adults scored below the average OECD scores.
2. Second, the atrophy effect, where acquired skills decline after adults leave the formal education system and enter work. This could be because the skills are not as frequently used or as deliberately honed at work compared to during the formal schooling years.
3. Third, we also need to be mindful of the obsolescence effect, where skills become less relevant or even obsolete at the workplace, given rapidly changing market demands, technological advancement and enterprise transformation.
4. There is also growing research interest on how technology has changed the way we consume and process information, with many people moving away from complex writing to shorter social media posts and videos. As cognitive outsourcing becomes more prevalent with AI, there is also a risk of erosion of deep thinking and reflection.

6. Some members have also asked what the results mean for the competitiveness of our workforce. We take part in PIAAC to help gauge our progress in adult continuous learning. In that regard, our improvements over the two cycles of testing are encouraging. However, the skills assessed by OECD are not the only skills that affect the employability of our local workforce. To put together a better picture of where we are, we need to consider other data points. For instance, whether our workers have job-specific skills is crucial to their competitiveness. There are also other metrics that measure the competitiveness of a country or workforce, such as our employment rate, the number of companies that continue to invest good jobs in Singapore, and whether our workers command good wages.

7. Nevertheless, to mitigate the atrophy and obsolescence effects, it is necessary for us to continuously upskill and reskill throughout life, beyond the first 15 years of formal education. To this end, the Government has been investing heavily in continuous education and training through SkillsFuture, and this is a key pillar of our refreshed social compact under Forward Singapore.

8. However, the Government cannot do this alone. Individuals and employers also have key roles to play.

1. Individuals must take ownership of their learning journeys throughout life and take steps to constantly upskill and reskill, to push against the natural skills atrophy that the PIACC results suggest.
2. Employers must stay nimble and transform their business and jobs to compete internationally. They must also invest in their employees' career health, such as by articulating their company's skills needs, and supporting their employees to undergo training so their employees have the capabilities to successfully achieve employers' business goals.

9. Some have asked how we should interpret the PIAAC results in relation to our overall economic and workforce competitiveness. Our overall economic and workforce competitiveness also depends on other factors, including but not limited to, our ability to provide a business-friendly environment, consistent policies, stable government, and measures to attract complementary talent and skills from the global networks to complement and supplement our own. These factors contribute to an ecosystem where businesses can make the best use of our workforce's talent to innovate and thrive.