Reading beyond school years vital for preventing decline in literacy skills: Chan

Recent study flagged a significant drop in literacy after the age of 35 in Singapore

- Gabrielle Chan

The ongoing push by SkillsFuture Singapore to improve individuals' job-related skills has to be coupled with efforts to encourage them to read and maintain their literacy, said Education Minister Chan Chun Sing on Jan 8.

"We need to encourage our people to read and maintain their literacy proficiency in order to process and manage information, especially in today's bewildering world where the problem is not a deficit of information, but a deluge of information," he said.

Mr Chan was responding in Parliament to questions from eight MPs, including Ms Foo Mee Har (West Coast GRC), Mr Patrick Tay (Pioneer SMC) and Ms Cheryl Chan (East Coast GRC), about the results of the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) released on Dec 10.

The PIAAC, which is conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), looks at the proficiency of adults in literacy, numeracy and adaptive problem-solving skills. Singapore was the most improved country for numeracy, rising from 25th out of 39 countries in the previous study to 10th out of 31 countries in the most recent iteration.

The study also saw Singapore climb the ranks in adult literacy, from 28th to 18th place, but flagged a significant decline in literacy after the age of 35.