Provision of Foundation Skills Training by Community Education Providers in Regional Australia

Defined as language, literacy and numeracy, and employability skills, foundation skills are essential for individuals to participate in further education, employment and wider society. Community education providers, such as community colleges, neighbourhood houses, faith-based organisations and adult learning associations, are key providers of foundation skills training. The characteristics of community education providers, such as their relatively small scale and flexibility in teaching strategies, make them particularly suitable for providing such training. Despite this, the impact of foundation skills training delivered by community education providers on education and employment outcomes and involvement in society is not well known, particularly in regional areas where the foundation skill levels of adults tend to be lower than in metropolitan areas. This research investigates the contribution that community education providers make to foundation skills training in regional Australia, the models of delivery which seemed to work best, and whether the undertaking of foundation skills training helped build the social and human capital of the individual and broader community. A multi-method approach is used including the administration of an online survey to both regional and metropolitan community education providers and follow-up telephone interviews with a selection of community education trainers and managers, along with an analysis of inquiries to the Reading Writing Hotline (a national referral service for adults looking for help with their literacy and numeracy skills) and analysis of Total VET Activity (TVA) data. [For the accompanying supporting document, "Provision of Foundation Skills Training by Community Education Providers in Regional Australia -- Support Document," see ED610611.]