PIAAC as a tool for the formation of evidence-based adult education policy – an analysis exsample of non-economic factors’ role in the formation of active ageing policy

Sonja Kump and Borut Mikulec

Summary:  The paper discusses the conceptual and empirical dimensions of the OECD’s Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). The first part refers to the conceptual issues and cautions the readers in regard to interpreting the results of the research as it does not consider the unproblematic measurements of adult literacy. Namely, it proves that PIAAC is not a neutral tool for the formation of educational ‘evidence-based policy’. Further, the article presents an analysis of results about the influence of education and skills on active citizenship, social cohesion and personal development. The stress is on the data relating to the sample 55-65 year-old age group in selected OECD countries: Belgium (Flanders), Czech Republic, Estonia, Ireland, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. The findings confirm the relationship between the education level and skills of older adults with individual and social well-being in most of the selected countries, although the relationship is stronger in some countries than others. As in other selected countries, older adults in Slovenia with a low level of literacy skills and with a lower level of education more often than those with higher levels of literacy skills and a higher level of education report having poor health, that they less often participate in volunteering activities and that they trust less in other people.