The interview was conducted about 6 months after the results from the first cycle of PIAAC were published. When Annelie Roswall Ljunggren first heard of PIAAC, she found it exciting with this kind of study, which focused on adult learning and skills. This kind of survey could increase the interest for adult learning among the public, according to Annelie Roswall Ljunggren, and also encourage Swedish researchers to use PIAAC data.
However, media coverage was surprisingly low when the results were released, according to Annelie Roswall Ljunggren. The results for Sweden were very good which could be one of the reasons for the low media coverage. According to Annelie Roswall Ljunggren, the work within national adult learning organizations probably contributed to the high participation rates in adult learning in Sweden and thus also to the good results for Sweden in PIAAC. Annelie Roswall Ljunggren also pointed out that the knowledge gaps between population groups were big in Sweden. For example, the PIAAC results showed big skill differences between high educated and low educated persons and between newly immigrated adults and those who had lived in Sweden for many years or their whole life.
Annelie Roswall Ljunggren also found that an important result was that a rather high rate of the adult population in Sweden, one out of five, did not have sufficient skills in problem-solving ability through IT and digital devices, despite the fact that Sweden was at the top in this skill area. The Swedish National adult learning association has an important role in informing the public, media and government about the PIAAC results and engage in activities which could increase IT, reading and other skills among low-skilled adults in the Swedish population.
