The NVL has a podcast series about PIAAC. In the different episodes, organisations within the field of adult learning in the Nordic countries talk about how they experience and use data from the survey. The first episode is an interview with Sturla Bjerkaker, the secretary general of the Norwegian Association for Adult Learning (NAAL), a national organization for adult learning consisting of 14 government approved adult learning associations. Bjerkaker heard about PIAAC for the first time in 2008 during a study tour to where he visited the OECD. His first reactions were very positive as PIAAC is an international survey involving a lot of countries. Thus, PIAAC is a new data source giving us more information to assess skills in the adult population.
The interview with Bjerkaker was conducted short time after first results from PIAAC had been presented. In Norway, the enthusiasm for PIAAC was not as big as Bjerkaker had expected. Results for Norway were not bad, but not as good as had been expected. In Norway, there has been focus on basis skills for several years, and since 2005-2006, Norway has had a strategy to reduce the share of adults having low skills in literacy and numeracy. Until now, we have not had good data on adult skills, but PIAAC is an important source giving us more information about adult skills. Therefore, Bjerkaker believes PIAAC is important for the public debate regarding skills and lifelong learning. According to Bjerkaker it is important that adults are motivated for learning to increase adults’ skills. It is important to have a culture for learning throughout the entire life so that adults are motivated to participate in formal and non-formal education and training, thereby increasing their competences and gaining new knowledge. NAAL is aware of the importance of the PIAAC survey. According to Bjerkaker, the field of adult education has to be engaged in the survey to make sure to be invited when PIAAC is discussed and to be able to participate in further discussions around PIAAC.
