As governments try to maintain their global competitiveness, increase the flexibility and responsiveness of labour markets and deal with issues of population ageing, the OECD is launching a Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) to assess the skills individuals posess, how they use them at the work place, and how better skills feed into better jobs, higher productivity, and ultimately better economic and social outcomes. The aim of the programme is to help governments understand how education and training systems can nurture the skills and competencies needed for individuals to participate in knowledgebased societies.
Some 5,000 16 to 65-year-olds in each participating OECD and partner country will be interviewed in their homes during 2011. Results will be published two years later. The most comprehensive international survey of adult skills ever undertaken, PIAAC is a collaboration between governments, an international consortium of organisations and the OECD. MA
For more, visit www.oecd.org/piaac
©OECD Observer No. 279, May 2010
