SkillsActive has launched a new online resource to encourage the UK to brush up on their literacy, language and numeracy skills during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Developed in partnership with a number of organisations, including the Football Association, the National Literacy Trust, the Premier League, Podium and Active Communities, www.worldcupskills.org uses the medium of football to engage people with learning. The website hosts daily literacy and numeracy quizzes and puzzles, learning resources, information for employers, and sign posts viewers to other e-learning opportunities over the duration of the World Cup.
SkillsActive – the Sector Skills Council for Active Leisure, Learning and Well-being – works to increase the literacy and numeracy standards of the sporting workforce. SkillsActive chief executive, Stephen Studd, says: “This website is a great opportunity to use the spirit and ethos of the World Cup to engage football fans – both young and old – with learning.
“Recent figures show that 22 per cent of the sport sector workforce is below NVQ Level 2 or equivalent. We want to encourage people to take positive steps to develop their own life skills and those of their employees. It is crucial that we do not overlook such a critical set of underpinning skills that will enable our sector to move forward and prosper.”
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The government has set a target of 89 per cent of adults to be qualified to at least Level 1 literacy, and 81 per cent to be qualified to at least entry Level 3 numeracy by 2011.
Nick Levett, national development manager at The Football Association says: “The FA supports the work of SkillsActive to recognise and raise standards in literacy and numeracy. These key skills are vital to increase the quality of our volunteer and professional football workforce and are wholly behind this initiative.”
SkillsActive has been raising awareness of literacy and numeracy skills through international sporting events since February when it launched a daily online quiz focusing on the Vancouver winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. More than 1800 users accessed the quiz on the SkillsActive website.
The World Cup website will be live from 11 July 2010. To test your literacy and numeracy skills and be in the chance to win a variety of spot prizes, go to www.worldcupskills.org.
