Annual Report 2001-2002

An Áisíneacht Náisiúnta Litearthachta do Aosaigh

National Adult Literacy Agency

Work place literacy Tutor training International Literacy Day

 Copyright the National Adult Literacy Agency February 2002

ISBN 1-871737-18-4

National Adult Literacy Agency,

76 Lower Gardiner Street,
Dublin 1

Telephone: 01 855 4332,

Fax: 01 855 5475,
email: literacy@nala.ie,
website: www.nala.ie.

Freephone supportline: 1800 20 20 65

The main funder of NALA’s work is

the Department of Education & Science.

The local literacy service is provided by the 33 Vocational Educational

Committees (VEC) and funded by the National Development Plan (NDP).
 Contents
Overview of 2001 - 2002 2 ● Adult literacy premises survey 26
● Library & information service 27
Backdrop to the Agency’s work 5 ● Promoting research 27
Chapter 1 ● Other NALA research activities 27
The development of new
& existing projects in 2001 6 Chapter 6
● ‘Literacy Through the Media’ Project
Promoting understanding, support & action 28
6
● Update of the website 28
● Workplace Literacy Developments 8
● Developing publications
● Health Literacy Project 9 & printed material 28
● ICT & Literacy Project 10 ● Events 29
● Plain English Project 11 ● Coverage in the media 30
● NALA ESOL Support Project 12 ● Analysing the effectiveness of our
● Integrating Literacy 12 communications 31
Chapter 2 Chapter 7
The NALA National & Regional Offices 15 Report on the NALA AGM May 2001 32
● The National Office 15 ● Proposals discussed 32
● Work of the NALA Regional Offices 15 ● New Executive Members 32
Chapter 3 Chapter 8
Providing training & International developments & links 33
supporting development 18 ● International Exchange Meeting 33
● In-service Training for VEC Adult
● Three events in one visit! 33
Literacy Schemes 18
● Lifelong learning - Copenhagen 34
● NALA/WIT Accreditation Programmes 19
● Other international
● Courses completed in the academic
speaking opportunities 34
year 2000 to 2001 19
● International visitors to
● Literacy Awareness Training 20 NALA’s Dublin office 34
● Literacy Practitioners Events 20 Chapter 9
● Training Needs Analysis research 21 Links with external organisations
● Additional projects 21 & initiatives 35
Chapter 4 Acknowledgements 38
The NALA Evolving Quality Framework 22
● What is the NALA Quality Framework? 22 Glossary 39
● Report on piloting of the Quality
Framework published 22 NALA Financial Statements 42
● Report of the Auditors 43
● Revision of the Quality Framework 23
● Treasurer’s Report 43
● Quality Framework User Guide 23
● Income & Expenditure Account 44
●Survey research 23
● Balance Sheet as at the 46
● Development of the Quality
Framework implementation plan 24 ● Notes on the Accounts 47
Chapter 5
Adult literacy research 25 NALA Membership Corporate 49
● Assessment research 25
● Workplace basic training research 26
Overview of 2001 - 2002

"A year of dramatic events and opportunities to develop"

The year started with strong potential to maximise further on the substantial developments in adult
literacy over the last few years. The promise of the year was blighted by unprecedented disasters; the
threat of Foot and Mouth disease and the events of September 11th in the US. These two occurrences
highlighted the vulnerability of our work and the need to sometimes take risks and make the most out of
opportunities when they arise.

Government White Paper on the future of Adult Education

The dominant policy theme of the year continued to be the Government White Paper “Learning for Life”
on the future of Adult Education and its implementation. Consultation meetings in Athlone, Cork and
Dublin with membership, highlighted the anxieties people felt during this time of considerable change
and also their frustration at the delay in fully implementing the White Paper, in particular, the
establishment of the National Adult Learning Council (NALC). As a result the National Adult Literacy
Agency (NALA) initiated the convening of a Literacy Implementation Group bringing together the key
players in the Vocational Education Committees (VECs) and Department of Education and Science,
Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs, FÁS and the Library Council, to develop a national
action plan. It is intended that this plan will outline the necessary developments in the adult literacy
service up to 2006 and will also inform future policy in the area.

Need for an action plan for literacy

The need for a national action plan for literacy became increasingly more apparent throughout 2001 as
we witnessed a plethora of new initiatives. Least among them was an ambitious workplace project with
the local authority sector through a partnership process involving 5 VECs, 5 Local Authorities, 2 national
bodies and one Government Department. The project was ambitious not just because it operated
through a new partnership arrangement but also because it was the first significant workplace literacy
project piloted and evaluated in Ireland. Not surprisingly, there were difficulties as all tried to make this
project work in a short period of time, making the most of the opportunity that had presented itself. The
outcome however far outweighed any difficulties. In all five sites far more people than was expected
(men predominantly) came forward to participate in basic education. This was particularly satisfying
considering the sensitivity of the area and the known difficulties of attracting adult males into education
generally. I believe this initiative will have profound effects on how policy and practice in workplace
learning develops in Ireland.

Distance education through radio & TV

Our distance education work through radio and television also achieved new heights in 2001. New
records were set for ratings of Read Write Now TV literacy series 2. Like most things however it was the
mistakes of the previous series, which informed the direction of the second series. The
recommendations from the evaluation report were taken into account by all involved in the project and
feedback from learners was a reward in itself. Learning over the radio ran for twenty weeks on RTÉ
Radio1, with the second ten weeks being devoted to numeracy. Between the radio and the television,
over 60,000 sets of materials were distributed nationwide. VEC literacy services recorded a significant
in-take into their VEC Adult Literacy Schemes as a result of these programmes.

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National Assessment Framework for ABE
The ongoing development of a national assessment framework for adult basic education went on
throughout 2001. Five VEC Literacy Services and one prison education service took up the challenge of
working with the research team to inform the development of a draft framework. A complex and very
detailed task, taken on by a committed research team, resulted in a product which was very well
received and generated wide enthusiasm from literacy practitioners. The benefits of this work to
learners, practitioners and policy makers has yet to be recorded but is expected to be significant.

Health & Literacy

The year 2001 will definitely be remembered for the national focus on the state of our healthcare system
and the inequalities, which are inherent within it. One attempt to redress this imbalance involved the
Agency making a bid to the Health Promotion Unit within the Department of Health and Children, to fund
a three-year research and development project exploring literacy difficulties and health in an Irish
context. The bid was successful and heralded the first time the Agency received funding from this
government department. In the first phase of the project, a researcher was hired to talk to people with
literacy difficulties, of all different ages, about their health experiences. The results of the project will be
published in 2002 along with recommendations for health practitioners working with people with
literacy difficulties.

Putting literacy on the agenda of others

Putting literacy on the agenda of others is a clear goal for NALA. In addition to working with the
Department of Health and Children, the Agency forged new links with other bodies. Representation on
the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (NQAI) and the Educational Disadvantage Committee
brings attention to the needs of adults with low literacy skills within the broader education and training
arena. Serving on the new Information Society Commission and contributing to the National Anti-
Poverty Strategy (NAPS) informs policy of the particular and urgent needs of vulnerable groups in a
rapidly changing knowledge society.

Decentralisation of NALA services

The decentralisation of services is a key theme in Ireland today and so NALA took another step in that
direction by opening a Cork office and recruiting a Development worker for the southern region. In
addition, Jennifer Lynch from our Dublin office relocated to the Cork office, bringing with her the
aforementioned health project, ICT & literacy project and her work in plain language. Agency staff and
consultants travelled the length and breadth of the country, covering the Republic and Northern Ireland
as well.

Travel beyond Ireland

Travel beyond Ireland was also a feature in 2001 as the Agency kept abreast of international
developments. Invitations to speak on Irish developments came from the Basic Skills Agency for their
English and Welsh conferences. In Scotland, Reid Kerr College invited NALA to contribute to an
international conference with speakers from the US, Australia, England and Scotland. The new Basic
Skills Unit in the Department of Education and Employment in the UK hosted an international
symposium at which NALA contributed and heard about the national literacy strategies in New Zealand
and Canada, amongst others.

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The impact of external events
Travel, both within and beyond Ireland was, however, affected by the threat of Foot and Mouth disease.
NALA, like many other organisations, was forced to cancel training events and postpone many other
events including our Annual General Meeting (AGM). The actions in the US on the September 11th
resulted in the cancellation of our guest speaker for International Literacy Day conference and
nervousness that the next Budget would leave literacy without funding to maintain the momentum of
development. However, the launch of International Literacy Day by An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern T.D., set
our minds at ease, when he once again reiterated his strong personal commitment to adult literacy. The
year had started with an increase in the adult literacy budget and we were assured that the year would
end in a similar fashion. At one level, you cannot say better than that.

Inez Bailey, Director NALA

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 Backdrop to the Agency’s work
In 1999 the agency formulated an agreed strategy for the next three years, to implement NALA’s mission
statement, which is:

To ensure all adults with reading and writing difficulties have access to high quality literacy provision.

The Executive Committee monitors the implementation of this plan. Each NALA staff member has a
workplan. Staff members use the annual report as an evaluation report to NALA members.

Eight steps were highlighted in our strategic plan, which need to be taken to achieve the goals of the
NALA Strategic Plan.

Steps Towards Implementing the Strategic plan:

1. Aid the development of central government policies on adult literacy

2. Develop the campaigning role of the membership at local and regional level

3. Carry out research in the adult literacy field

4. Develop a training and development strategy for high quality adult literacy provision

5. Support the development of innovative literacy programmes

6. Deliver an adult literacy publicity campaign to raise awareness at national level

7. Develop a communications structure for the organisation

8. Develop an organisation plan with particular emphasis on Executive Committee

and staff development.

Please note: In 2002 the ‘NALA Strategic Plan 2002 to 2006’ will be put in place.

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Chapter 1
The development of new & existing projects in 2001

"NALA is initiating new and innovative adult literacy projects on an ongoing basis."
This work relates to Step 5 in the NALA Strategic Plan 1999 - 2001.

This section outlines work carried out on the development of new and existing innovative adult literacy
projects. These include:
‘Literacy Through the Media’
Workplace literacy
Health & literacy
Literacy & Information & Communications Technology (ICT)
Integrating literacy into external organisations
NALA ESOL Support Project

NALA is constantly, within the limits of its resources, striving to develop new initiatives such as ‘Literacy
Through the Media’. These initiatives deliver literacy tuition to larger numbers of people. The Agency is
also working with Government Departments and major national bodies to provide literacy support in
more areas of everyday life such as the health sector or the workplace.

‘Literacy Through the Media’ Project

‘Literacy Through the Media’ is as it says, the delivery of adult
literacy and numeracy tuition through the national broadcaster, RTÉ,
on both radio and TV. These series allow people to study in the
privacy in their home with specially produced learner packs and a
freephone support line for assistance. Ireland is at the forefront
internationally in the use of massmedia for literacy development.
Based on audience size and demand and distribution of workbooks
Minister of State for Education Willie
(see below) ‘Literacy Through the Media’ has been a great success. O’Dea T.D. at the launch of the Read
Write Now TV Literacy series 2

Read Write Now TV series 2

NALA began working on the development of a second series in April 2001.
This series was broadcast by RTÉ 1 on Wednesday nights from 19th
September 2001 at 7.30 pm. It attracted a larger viewership than the first,
with an average of 189,000 people tuning in on Wednesdays, the highest
number being 270,000. Each programme was repeated on Sunday mornings
at 10.00 am (average 26,500 viewers) and Tuesdays at midnight
(average 29,000 viewers).

We reopened the freephone support line for this series, operating from Monday
to Friday, 10 am to 4 pm. The freephone was staffed by experienced Tutors who helped learners with
queries about the learning in the TV programmes and their free learner pack. We sent out approximately
21,000 learner packs to independent learners, VEC Adult Literacy Schemes and interested groups. The
freephone number has been kept on and we hope that it will enable more people to use our referral
service. Our freephone support line Tutors included:
John Lynch Deirdre Kelly Bernie McCarthy
Aran McMahon Dara McMahon

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Interesting figures concerning our freephone line:
It received almost 6,000 telephone calls from independent learners
500 callers (12 per cent) were referred to local VEC Adult Literacy Schemes
150 (2.5 per cent) Tutors rang our freephone support line looking for support.

Radio series
Two radio series, consisting of literacy and numeracy, were broadcast in 2001.
The radio literacy series was also called Read Write Now, consisted of 10 half
hour radio programmes for adults wanting to brush up on their English. The
programme was more basic than the TV series. The programmes were
broadcast on RTÉ1 radio from March 2001 at 11.10pm. The learner pack was
available from NALA through the freephone line.

Time 4 Learning was the name of the radio numeracy series and it consisted of 10 half hour radio
programmes for adults wanting to improve their maths. The programmes were broadcast on RTÉ1 radio
from Thursday 18th October 2001 at 8.30pm. The learner pack was available from NALA through the
freephone line. Tapes of the programmes were available from RTÉ on request. There has been no
official audience numbers made available to NALA to date but all the feedback has been very positive.

Media Editorial Board

The Media Editorial Board continued to meet regularly in 2001 in relation to developments on literacy
and the media. The Board consisted of representatives from the Department of Education and Science,
Chief Executive Officers Association (CEOA), Adult Education Organisers Association (AEOA), Adult
Literacy Organisers Association (ALOA), a learner and NALA. Representatives from AV Edge, the TV
production company, who produced both Read Write Now TV series and RTÉ, attended meetings
when appropriate.

Evaluation of ‘Literacy through the media’

It is the policy of NALA to continually improve projects in which it is
involved. One of the major ways of achieving this is through
evaluations and ‘Literacy Through the Media’ is no exception. The
evaluation report of the first Read Write Now TV series was
launched in July by the Minister of State at the Department of
Education and Science, Willie O’Dea T.D.. The report outlines the
process of implementation, feedback from independent learners
and literacy providers and recommendations for the future. This
series was made available on video to the local VEC Adult Literacy
Schemes, Community Training Workshops (CTW), National Training
and Development Institutes (NTDI), Youthreach and local libraries
among others. Some copies are also available through the NALA
resource room.

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The evaluation process for the Read Write Now TV series 2 is aimed at assessing learners’ progress in
relation to the programme objectives and also to identify particular areas of success in the series and
those in need of improvement. An evaluation report for both the Read Write Now TV literacy series 2
and the Time 4 Learning radio numeracy were initiated in 2001. Liz McSkeane, independent consultant,
was hired to carry out this work.

Workplace Literacy Developments

NALA has identified the workplace as an area for natural
expansion of literacy tuition provision. To progress this in 2001
NALA developed a Workplace Literacy Strategy in consultation
with key stakeholders including Department of Education and
Science, Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment,
employer organisations, trades’ unions and practitioners. The
strategy aims to raise awareness, influence policy, gain support,
prioritise those in the workplace with the lowest skills and
establish a mechanism for the development of workplace basic The launch of the Local Authority national
skills programmes, nationally. workplace literacy programme

Workplace Literacy Strategy Group

In 2001 a Workplace Literacy Strategy Group was established to advance the strategy to ensure the
development of workplace literacy programmes. It consists of representatives from Government
Departments (DES, DETE), employers (CIF, IBEC, ISME, SFA), unions and union organisations (ITUT,
SIPTU, UNISON), practitioners (AEOA, ALOA, IVEA) and learners. The group will meet until May 2002 to
agree a strategy document which will include approaches and models of workplace literacy programmes
and an implementation plan. This strategy will be presented to the relevant Government Departments.

Research
A research project is underway which is developing a Workplace Basic Training Policy and Guidelines for
Irish Employers. See ‘Research’ section for more details page 25.

Pilot Programmes
Work continued during the year to develop pilot workplace literacy programmes. The VECs are involved
in a small number of initiatives with local businesses and NALA is working to support the sharing of
good practice. The pilot projects in which NALA was involved in 2001 are:

UDV Operations Ireland Ltd. - This pilot workplace literacy programme was established as an
initiative to meet the basic needs of the employees of UDV Operations (Ireland) Ltd. This
programme was initially designed as a ‘taster’ and was to last for 10 weeks. However it was
extended for a further five weeks. The programme was promoted to the employees in Winter
2000. Seven people attended the course from March 2001 until July 2001. The evaluation report
was very positive and management has agreed to expand the programme.

The Return to Learning Workplace Project in the Local Authorites - The Return to Learning Project
established a partnership initiative between the Local Authority National Partnership Advisory
Group (LANPAG), Department of Education and Science (DES) and NALA. It was implemented
through the work of local Vocational Education Committee (VEC) adult literacy schemes. The
project gave Local Authority employees an opportunity to attend a workplace literacy course.

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In 2000/01 the project was piloted in five locations, Mayo,
Meath, Offaly, South Dublin and Tipperary South Riding. It was
funded 50 % by LANPAG and 50 % by DES. These programmes
were initiated through each Local Authority Partnership
Committee. The local VEC Literacy Service were the providers of
the programme in each of these areas, and the VEC appointed
Project Co-ordinators who ran the programme in conjunction
with the Adult Literacy Organisers. In total 120 people
participated in the five pilot sites. Feedback from all
stakeholders was very positive and continuation and expansion
in the pilot areas is underway.

Currently the remaining local authorities are beginning to

establish the Return to Learning initiative in conjunction with
their local VECs. The evaluation report of the Return to Learning
pilot workplace literacy programme in the Local Authorities,
written by Patricia Conboy, was published in February 2002.

Workplace Literacy Training

As part of NALA’s work a course was organised in support of workplace literacy in 2001. We delivered a
Certificate in Workplace Basic Skills Training for experienced Literacy Tutors in the Spring in Dublin.
There were 12 participants who successfully completed the course. This course equips Tutors to
promote and deliver workplace literacy programmes.

Health Literacy Project

With over 500,000 adults with literacy difficulties in Ireland there are major implications for health
providers and practitioners. People with literacy problems are finding it difficult to read medication
bottles, health promotional material is hard to understand for them and they cannot follow signage in
health centres or hospitals.

The first ever health literacy project was initiated in

2001 by NALA. This was specifically aimed at raising
awareness and knowledge among health practitioners
to better equip them to deal with the issue of poor
literacy skills. This project is as a result of a grant from
the Department of Health & Children.

The Health & Literacy Strategy

The first part of the NALA Health & Literacy Project
explored barriers to good health and possible ways to
remove these barriers. Following a tender process
NALA appointed health researcher Anne McCarthy to
conduct interviews and work with a newly established Patricia McCarthy Project Researcher,
Health and Literacy Advisory Committee. This work Micheál Martin, T.D., Minister for Health & Children,
involved interviewing 110 adult learners as well as Jennie Lynch Project Co-ordinator &
Deirdre Sadlier Director Dental Health Foundation
health practitioners and managers. at the launch of the Health & Literacy Project

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The resulting report, a health literacy strategy document, will be published in spring 2002. Members of
our advisory committee are:
Patricia Kennedy, VTOS, Limerick City VEC
Kathleen Lombard, Department of Health Promotion, Department of Health & Children
Deirdre Sadlier, Executive Director, Dental Health Foundation
Paul Grassby, Director, Irish Centre for Continuing Pharmaceutical Education (ICCPE)
Lisa McGeehan, Health Promotion Officer, Western Health Board
Michael O’Toole, NALA Executive Member

We highlighted the work of this project by conducting workshops for members at our International
Literacy Day celebrations and the launch of the NALA Regional Office in Cork.

The second phase involves producing a "literacy friendly" health pack. Work on this phase of the
project will begin mid 2002. Both of these initiatives focus on the role of communication in healthcare
settings, health promotion. It will also identify what medical practitioners need to consider in order to
support people with low literacy skills. This project will also attempt to transform how information on
health issues is communicated at all levels particularly in relation to the large audience of adults with
literacy difficulties.

NAPS Submission
In March 2001 we made a submission to the National Anti Poverty Strategy (NAPS) Health Working
Group. This Group was established in 2000 as part of the National Health Promotion Strategy 2000-
2005. The strategy stated "poor literacy skills …..limits access to health information and health
services." This submission is available on our webpage.

Dental Health Foundation

See section on ‘Links with external organisations & initiatives’ page 35.

ICT & Literacy Project

The use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the support of
literacy provision is growing internationally. While NALA has been conscious for
sometime of the benefits of such a tool, 2001 saw the initiation of the first ICT &
Literacy project for the Agency. In April we made a submission to the CAIT initiative
(Community Application of Information Technology). Up to €3.175 million was
made available from the Department of Public Enterprise to fund this initiative
involving IT projects which encourage groups to use and become familiar with new
technologies in their everyday lives. We were awarded €19,685 in August to fund a
“training the trainers” course in the use of integrating literacy into ICT and develop
a literacy resource webpage. Most IT initiatives have excluded the adult literacy
sector, which means that we are trying to catch up. This grant gave us a great
opportunity to develop our own expertise in the use of ICT.

“Training the Trainers” Course in Integrating Literacy into ICT

On October 16th and 17th we ran an "Integrating Literacy into ICT" course for 20
Tutors working with computers. We received over 60 applications for this course,
which shows the interest in using ICT in literacy tuition.

10
The Agency designed the course and following the training this core group of people became familiar
with how to use new technology such as word-processing, e-mail and the Internet, in the context of
developing basic skills. The course was designed so that most of the learning would take place in the
participants’ place of work.

Individuals who completed the course, including three assignments, will now develop the Agency’s
expertise in integrating ICT into literacy work. We are examining the development of this training course
for inclusion in the NALA training calendar following its evaluation.

Resources on the web

NALA are currently designing a resource webpage for VEC Adult Literacy Schemes and other groups
involved in literacy tuition. This will be a multimedia site where Literacy Tutors or independent learners
can access worksheets and other literacy support material. They will be able to work online or
download material. There will also be a tracking system. There will be links to international resource
webpages, which should prove very useful and help raise the standard of tuition. Experienced
worksheet writers have been commissioned to design worksheets for different subject areas. The lack
of an ICT curriculum and relevant resources was cited as one of the main barriers to developing ICT as an
additional support for the literacy service. This project will address this issue and should prove a useful
resource for literacy practitioners.

European Funding Submissions

We made a submission to the e-learning fund in November. Our plan for this money is to fund the
further development of the ICT & literacy resource webpage. It would also be an excellent forum to
disseminate information about our ICT work and find out about other European developments. We will
find out if we have been successful in our bid in March 2002. Building on our TV literacy success we
were interested in being the lead partner in producing television programmes, which explain how basic
computers work. A resource such as this would prove very useful to literacy practitioners.

Equalskills
See section on ‘Links with external organisations and initiatives’ page 36.

Plain English Project

NALA is regularly contacted by individuals and agencies, anxious to make their material accessible to as
many people as possible. To deal with this issue in a systematic way NALA established a limited Plain
English project. This involves the provision of “literacy proofing’ of materials and raising awareness
about the issue.

During 2001 the Agency undertook a lot of “literacy proofing” for different
agencies. All of these agencies and organisations recognised the need to
make their materials accessible to individuals with weak literacy skills.

We “literacy proofed” material and offered advice to the following

organisations:
Health and Safety Authority
Blood Transfusion Committee - James Connolly Memorial Hospital
FÁS Safepass Programme

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 National Safety Council
Health Research Board
National Breast Screening Programme.

‘Writing & Design Tips’ Booklet

We also re-printed our Writing and Design Tips and posted it to the following national groups:
Pharmacists
Health centres
Community Health Nurses
All Medical Doctors.
We hope to continue with other targeted mailings in the coming year.

NALA ESOL Support Project

One of the most recent challenges facing VEC Adult Literacy Schemes is
how they can best serve the influx of people from non-English speaking
countries. NALA has started to address the issue by developing an
English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) project in 2001. This
project has involved
Research to develop a clear picture and related policy & guidelines
Training for literacy practitioners
The development of materials for asylum seekers
A larger range of ESOL material available from NALA.

A further issue in relation to this is the need for ESOL policy guidelines
and supports for literacy practitioners dealing with adults whose first
language is not English. To this end, NALA have sent out a Fergus Dolan,
NALA Training Co-ordinator
questionnaire to all Adult Literacy Organisers to establish what is with responsibility for ESOL Support
currently happening in the VEC Adult Literacy Schemes in the ESOL Project
field, what courses they are running, who is participating etc. We have
also set up an ESOL Executive Working Group with members from
various organisations working in this field to look at these issues and
to develop policy guidelines and supports for literacy practitioners.

NALA Training organised "ESOL and Literacy" training courses for VEC Adult Literacy Schemes. The
courses took place in Cork, Dublin and Athlone and involved 70 participants. In 2001 the NALA Resource
Centre greatly increased their range of ESOL material available. This includes workbooks, reading and
audiovisual material. Finally the development of materials for asylum seekers and other non-nationals
was also initiated through Integrate Ireland Language and Training.

Integrating Literacy
In 2001, NALA continued working with educators and trainers to address the literacy and numeracy
needs of participants in further education and training programmes. Confidence and skill in oral
communication, reading, writing and numeracy are important for individuals to get full benefit from all
forms of education and training. NALA believes that literacy support should be built into all further
education and training programmes.

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Many programmes address participants’ literacy needs by providing dedicated literacy tuition within the
centre. In addition to this, NALA encourages the integration of literacy, across all subjects and skills.

Integrating Literacy Course

The Integrating Literacy Course was developed by NALA to help equip educators and trainers with the
knowledge and skills necessary to integrate literacy into their programmes. It is accredited by NUI
Maynooth. In 2001, one group of Teagasc trainers undertook the course, as did three groups of trainers
from FAS Community Training Workshops (CTWs) and other strands of Youthreach.

In July, NUI Maynooth Certificates were presented to graduates who completed the
course in 2000. The presentation ceremony was preceded by a short seminar at
which graduates of the course outlined what ‘integrating literacy’ meant in practice.
Speakers included a Youthreach Centre Coordinator, a CTW instructor and a CTW
literacy tutor, representing the staff partnership required to make integration work.

National Forum of CTW Literacy Tutors

A National Forum of CTW Literacy Tutors was held in January 2001. Literacy tutors in
CTWs are key to the success of a whole-centre approach to literacy. The Forum was
the first of what is hoped will be an annual opportunity for CTW literacy Tutors to
meet on a national basis, to exchange views on the integrated approach and to share
information, resources and good practice.

NALA/WIT Single Module in Adult Literacy Tuition 1

CTW Literacy Tutors from Dublin, Limerick and Drogheda were among those who undertook the
NALA/WIT Single Module in Adult Literacy Tuition 1, run in Dublin in October/November 2001. The
module was organised specifically for tutors working in further education and training programmes.
Other participants were from Youthreach Centres in Cork and Wexford and an Adult Education centre in
Co. Galway. Participant evaluation was positive. CTW literacy tutors also took part in training provided
as part of NALA’s Training Calendar.

Integrating Literacy seminar

NALA facilitated a two-day Seminar in Integrating Literacy in Blarney, Co Cork in May. Participants were
management, vocational instructors and literacy tutors from Community Training Workshops in the
Cork/Kerry region. Guest speakers included CTW instructors and literacy tutors from Newbridge,
Dundalk and Southill in Limerick who shared their experience of integrating literacy.

Seminar for CTW Managers

A seminar for CTW Managers was held in February to discuss the implications of adopting a whole
centre, integrated approach to literacy in the workshops. Themes included:
Developing a Strategic Plan for literacy in the workshop
The importance of involving management, trainees, literacy tutors, vocational staff, and all
stakeholders in the planning process
Staff training and development
Resource implications.

CTW Staff Development

Staff Development sessions and meetings with management, Literacy Tutors and vocational staff were
held in Community Training Workshops around the country. These focused on developing workshop-

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specific plans for developing the integrated approach to literacy.

In addition to CTW-based work, NALA facilitated or co-facilitated literacy integration awareness training
for staff in a number of further education and training settings. These included adult education/PLC
centres in Dublin City and Co Galway and VEC Youthreach Centres in Co Limerick, in cooperation with
Greta Vaughan, Adult Literacy Organiser. We were also pleased to contribute to Literacy Awareness
Training organised by City of Dublin VEC Youthreach.

Events attended
In September NALA made a presentation on the integration project to the annual conference of the Irish
Association of Community Training Organisations, which represents the management boards of
Community Training Workshops. Other conferences and seminars attended as part of the integration
project included:
National Conference of VEC Youthreach Coordinators, February
Annual Conference of National Association of Traveller Training Centres, April
Regional Conference of VEC Youthreach Staff (Cork/Kerry/Waterford), November
Consultative Conference on the developing Youthreach Quality Assurance process, November.
Guidelines on Integrating Literacy
NALA will publish Guidelines on Integrating Literacy early in 2002. The Guidelines outline the key
elements of an integrated approach to literacy within further education and training centres. They are
intended to be of use in a wide range of settings and programmes. We consider they reflect the good
practice of literacy staff, vocational trainers/subject teachers and centre management worked with
throughout 2001.

14
 Chapter 2
The NALA National & Regional Offices

"The National & Regional Offices are the essential foundation

on which the NALA depends".
This work relates to Step 8 in the NALA Strategic Plan 1999 - 2001.

This section covers the following areas:

The National Office.
Work of the NALA Regional Offices
Role of Regional Development Workers
NALA/FÁS/VEC Return to Education Programme

The successful completion of many of NALA’s projects depends on a resourceful team at the National
Office. It also requires dynamic and energetic Development Workers based in both of NALA’s Regional
Offices in Midlands and Cork.

The National Office

The NALA National Office is best known for the management of the NALA
Resource Centre and the National Referral Service. While these are
essential core elements of the Agency’s work the Administration Staff
also provides vital support for all the work. In particular their work
includes: NALA
No. 76
Organisation and support of events such as the AGM and
International Literacy Day
Maintenance of the core NALA database
Implementation of an extensive programme of mailouts
Maintenance and monitoring of NALA finances
Supporting the freephone support line.

NALA Resource Centre

The NALA Resource Centre in Dublin continues to be widely used by all those involved in tutoring adults
in various settings. These include:
VEC Adult Literacy Schemes
Traveller Training Centres
Prison Education
FÁS Training Workshops
National Training and Development Institute (NTDI)
Tutors of ESOL and many others.

New titles are constantly being sourced and publicised through the NALA
Newsletter. This was a particularly busy year with approximately 600
personal visits to view and purchase material. It is estimated that the NALA
Resource Centre dispatched 2,000 orders for material in 2001.

A new full colour comprehensive NALA Resource Guide was produced in 2001.
This was distributed to 800 individuals and organisations on the Resource

15
Centre database. It was also promoted heavily by NALA and as a result it was in great demand from a
much wider audience. This is the only publication of its kind available in Ireland.

National Referral Service

One of the core activities of NALA is to provide a national adult literacy
referral service. This is mainly focused on people who are seeking adult
literacy support or those who want to get involved in the adult literacy
service. Having said this it also includes phone calls and emails from the
wider public seeking information and advice on a wide variety of subjects
from media enquiries and academics to government ministers and national
voluntary organisations. Enquiries into the National Office numbered over
1,000 in 2001.

Although the television programme Read Write Now series 2 finished late in
2001 the freephone support line continues to be managed by administrative
staff in NALA Dublin office. Members of the public seeking the TV or radio
packs and referral information continue to use the free phone number.
During the year there was a very noticeable increase in the number of help line number
volunteers requesting information via the e-mail. 1800 20 20 65

The information leaflet entitled VEC Adult Literacy & Basic Education Services
in Ireland was updated and reprinted on 4 occasions during the year. This
leaflet gives the contact name and telephone numbers of all VEC Adult
Literacy Schemes and has proved very popular and useful.

Work of the NALA Regional Offices

Following the success of the first NALA regional office in Longford, it
was decided in 2000 to open a second regional office in Cork for the
Southern region. Office space was obtained from the City of Cork
VEC, within their VTSU Building on Tramore Road, and Jennifer Lynch
(Projects Co-ordinator) moved to the Cork Regional Office in January
2001. In April 2001, Paul Facey-Hunter was appointed as the first Longford
Regional Development Worker for the Southern Region. The Cork
Regional office was officially opened by Micheál Martin T.D., Minister Dublin

for Health & Children, at an event at the Rochestown Park Hotel in

Cork on Saturday 17th November. Another notable guest speaker
was Dr. Aine Hyland, Professor of Education in UCC who gave a Cork
workshop and presentation concerning multiple intelligences.

Since the establishment of the Midlands regional office in April 2000 it has become an integral part of
the work carried out by NALA. It has been recognised as a much needed resource and support to the
literacy services in the Midland and Western region.

Role of Regional Development Workers

The role of the Regional Development Workers is many and varied. Their work includes:

16
 Supporting the development of intensive literacy programmes,
e.g. NALA/FÁS/VEC Return to Education Programme
Providing information on request on work carried out by NALA at regional, national and
international level
Providing general support and information to VEC Adult Literacy Schemes and other NALA
members in the region
Facilitating Literacy Awareness Training at regional level for other agencies as requested
Providing support at NALA regional events e.g. Training, Workshops
Attending regional conferences and seminars highlighting literacy issues.

FÁS/VEC Return to Education Programme

The Return to Education Programme is a joint initiative between FÁS and the VECs supported by NALA.
This programme aims to give participants on FÁS Community Employment (CE) programmes an
opportunity to attend a basic reading and writing skills course in CE time in order to enhance their
opportunities in seeking employment and/or further education and training. The Return to Education
programme was first piloted in 1998/1999 in two places: Mullingar with Westmeath VEC and Ballyfermot
with Co. Dublin VEC. As a result of an evaluation of this initial pilot, it was decided to extend and
develop Return to Education on a nationwide basis. The number of programmes and geographical
spread of provision has increased every year.

In 2000-2001, there were 33 programmes running in 23 VEC areas covering all 10 FÁS regions. By the
end of 2001, this had increased to 42 programmes running in 24 VEC areas and 10 FÁS regions. These
intensive basic education programmes are currently therefore providing approximately 750 places for CE
workers.
Regional Literacy Resources Support
Another valuable service available at the NALA Regional Offices are literacy resources. Literacy service
providers and learners make an appointment to visit or view these samples and can then place an order
for materials they wish to purchase. These are then dispatched from the NALA Resource Centre in
Dublin. Viewing is by appointment only. This service, in terms of regional support has proven most
valuable and popular for literacy service providers and learners.

17
Chapter 3
Providing training & supporting development

"Providing quality training to adult literacy practitioners and supporting

the development of literacy provision."
This work relates to Step 4 in the NALA Strategic Plan 1999 - 2001.

This section covers the following areas:

In-service Training for VEC Adult Literacy Schemes
NALA/WIT Accreditation Programmes
NUI Maynooth Integrating Literacy Certificate
Literacy Awareness Training
Organiser and Tutor Fora
Strategic Planning Initiative

The Training Section of NALA offers training programmes on a wide range of

subjects based on the principles of good practice in Adult Basic Education.
Since its establishment in 1980, the agency has identified and responded to the
training needs of literacy workers. Over the years NALA has continually
expanded its programme of in-service training events for Tutors and
Organisers. This means that a greater number of literacy personnel are doing
more extensive training. The training section also has an additional role in the
national development of adult literacy provision.

In-service Training for VEC Adult Literacy Schemes

Evaluations of the NALA In-service training programme indicated that it was very successful. Twenty
different courses were delivered 48 times in 18 different locations around the country. New courses
included ESOL, Literacy and Farming, and The Euro. Once again most of the courses were given outside
Dublin, but Dublin remains the most popular location for national events. The programme involved 20
different trainers and there is no doubt that much of the success is due to their expertise and
commitment.

The table below indicates the range of participant satisfaction for the various elements for all courses on
a scale of 1 to 5.

Table 2. Participant ratings of course elements

Average Highest Lowest
Relevance of content 4.55 4.9 4.1
Effectiveness of teaching methods 4.55 5.0 4.3
Usefulness of handouts 4.69 4.9 4.0
Organisation of event 4.45 4.9 3.8

Table 2 shows that over 90 % satisfaction was recorded for the relevance and teaching of the courses. A
high of 93.8 % satisfaction was recorded for the usefulness of handouts and 89 % indicated satisfaction
for the organisation of the event. The participant satisfaction rating with the courses remains very high,

18
ranging from a high of 98 per cent (Learning
Disability), to 81 per cent (Training of Trainers).
These figures are quite impressive and are an
improvement on last year.

A Training Needs Analysis of both Adult Literacy

Tutors and Organisers was initiated during the year
and the results are expected by March 2002. This
will enable us to better meet the needs of literacy
workers in an environment that is changing rapidly.

Another feature of the year was the production of a

wall chart calendar outlining all events from
September 2001 to June 2002. This was very well
received by Adult Literacy Organisers and Tutors
alike.
Speaking at the ‘Models of Family Literacy’ seminar were L to
R: Maura Grant Co-Ordinator Breaking the Cycle, Sian Welby
Basic Skills Agency UK & Ann O’Gara Assistant National Co-
Ordinator of Home School Liaison.

NALA/WIT Accreditation Programmes

The NALA/Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT)
programme celebrated the first graduation from the
Literacy Tutors certificate as well as another
graduation from the Organisers Certificate.
Discussions are ongoing with WIT on developing the
project and it is hoped to further progress the
accreditation ladder in 2002. This year also saw the
continued availability of single certificate modules
from both the Tutors and Organisers National
Certificates.

The validation by WIT of Initial Training Courses in

VEC Adult Literacy Schemes also allows for
accreditation for tutors from the very first day of A group of Tutors who completed the
training they receive. To date 16 VEC Adult Literacy NALA/WIT Accreditation Programme
Schemes have successfully validated their initial
training programme with WIT.

Courses completed in the academic year 2000 to 2001

National Certificate in Adult and Community Education - Literacy Management. Eighteen students
have completed, with a further three students having the option of submitting in 2002
National Certificate in Adult and Community Education - Literacy Tuition. Thirty-two students have
completed, with a further 5 students having the option of submitting in 2002
Accumulation of Credit & Certification of Subjects (ACCS) programme. Single certificates offered
regionally to Adult Literacy Organisers and Adult Literacy Tutors. Of the 408 students who
registered on single modules, 337 students have completed, with a further 55 students having the
option of submitting in 2002. Sixteen students have dropped out and will not be completing.

19
Literacy Awareness Training
A Literacy Awareness Training (LAT) Pack was developed and distributed to all
VEC Adult Literacy Schemes to facilitate awareness raising at local level. NALA
continues to offer awareness training to national organisations and 10
sessions were arranged in 2001 for government departments, state agencies
and national/regional organisations. The number and location of LAT events
were as follows:
Dublin - 31 events
Cork city – 15 events
Galway, Navan, Athlone, & Cavan - three events
Limerick, & Tullamore - two events
Kilkenny, Mullingar, Sligo, Longford, Ballyshannon, Thurles,
Mallow, Killarney, Claremorris, Portlaoise and Ennis - one event each.

NALA Training and Development 2001

No. courses Delivered Locations Participants

NALA In-service Courses 20 48 18 665
NALA/WIT Single Certs. 7 20 5 408
National Tutors Forum 1 1 1 240
Regional Tutors Fora 1 4 4 151

Total Events 29 73 19 1,464

Literacy Practitioners Events

National Adult Literacy Organisers’ Forum 2001
The 2001 Forum was held in Cork and was attended by 74 ALOs. Evaluations indicated that 84% rated
the Forum as either “very useful” or “useful” to their work. The ALO South West Network contributed
heavily to the organisation of the Forum and its success relied on their hard work and commitment.

National Adult Literacy Tutors Forum

The National Forum for Literacy Tutors 2001 was the first of its kind
and was a particularly successful and rewarding event, which
celebrated the beginning of "the International Year of the
Volunteer". 240 Tutors attended the National Forum, with 277
Tutors attending regional fora. 81 per cent of participants who
attended the National Tutors Forum 2001 rated the overall
usefulness of the event as "very good" or "excellent". 8% felt it
was "good", 4% said it was "average" and nobody felt it was
"poor".

Strategic Development Planning

In co-operation with the Department of Education and Science, The main speaker at the Tutors’ Forum was
NALA initiated a support programme for VEC Adult Literacy author, dramatist & storyteller
extraordinaire Peter Sheridan (left) with
Schemes preparing strategic plans. An information day was held National Literacy Co-Ordinator John Stewart

20
on July 16th for VEC Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), Education Organisers (EOs) and Adult Education
Organisers (AEOs). This outlined the context for planning and the process being embarked upon. 'A
Model for a Strategic Planning Process’ was drafted and distributed to VEC Adult Literacy Schemes in
September for their consideration. In addition, a series of regional meetings attracted 65 ALOs and
AEOs to progress their plans.

Training Needs Analysis research

NALA strives to enhance its training provision for Adult Literacy Tutors and Organisers. It is therefore
natural that we should seek the views of Local Literacy Schemes. These views in turn influence the
development of NALA training. As part of this process the first Training Needs Analysis of literacy
practitioners was commissioned by the Agency in 2001.

CHL Consulting, who have previously worked with the Department of Education & Science and
Youthreach, won the tender. They have been surveying and consulting with Tutors and Organisers over
the last half of the year. The final report of this research will be available in the spring of 2002.

NALA ESOL Support Project

See section on ‘Development of new and existing projects’ for more details page 12.

Additional projects
One final feature worth mentioning is the progress of literacy from various language perspectives.
Breacadh (the Irish Language Literacy Project) and Linkup (the Irish Deaf Society Literacy Project) both
held their first tutor training courses.

Linkup: Irish Deaf Society Literacy Project

The Irish Deaf Society is piloting a project to deliver literacy tuition by deaf tutors to the deaf community.
Deaf tutors are trained to enable the provision of literacy classes to learners nationwide from March
2002. The project is funded by the Department of Education & Science and is supported by NALA
through representation on the Steering and Curriculum Development committees. The Project
Coordinator, Stephen Bates, is visiting deaf clubs, communities and service providers to promote
the project.

Breacadh Irish language literacy project

Breacadh, an Irish language literacy project funded by the Department of Education &
Science was officially launched with the support of NALA in 2001. It is directed by the
Vocational Education Committees and the Partnership Companies in the Gaeltacht
regions. It is acting as a resource to the VECs in the provision of adult education
through the medium of Irish. The initial commitment was for the development of an
adult literacy service for native Irish speakers. The service is free and confidential and
tuition will be available in groups or on a one-to-one basis. NALA has been supporting
this project through Tutor training, production of printed promotional material and
publicising its activity through NALA publications.

21
Chapter 4
The NALA Evolving Quality Framework

"Providing a system by which VEC Adult Literacy Schemes can to evaluate their work".
This work relates to Step 4 in the NALA Strategic Plan 1999 - 2001.

This section covers the following:

What is the NALA Quality Framework?
Report on piloting of the Quality Framework published
Revision of the Quality Framework
Quality Framework user guide
Survey research
Development of the Quality Framework implementation plan

The objective of the NALA Quality Framework is to provide a system

by which VEC Adult Literacy Schemes can critically evaluate their
work. Following successful piloting the mainstreaming of the process
began in 2001. This has involved the consultation and involvement
of key stakeholders. The Quality Framework endorsed in the White
Paper on Adult Education, has proven to be a valuable and needed
tool.

In May of this year, NALA appointed, Claire O’Riordan, to the post of

Quality Framework Co-ordinator. The main work done in 2001 was
as follows:

Publication of the report on the piloting of the Quality Framework

Production of comprehensive new Quality Framework User Guide
Survey research of Adult Literacy Schemes and their views on implementing the Quality Framework
Work on Quality Framework implementation plan.

What is the NALA Quality Framework?

The Quality Framework is a strategy to guide and implement quality standards in Adult Literacy
Schemes. It involves a team-based approach at scheme level and is locally adaptive and user-friendly.

Report on piloting of the Quality Framework published

Grace Doyle originally compiled the report on the piloting of the NALA Quality Framework - Report on the
NALA-Socrates Pilot Implementation of Evolving Quality Framework for Adult Basic Education 1999-
2000. We edited and published this report in 2001.

The main finding from this report showed that the Quality Framework was:
‘a valuable and needed tool which literacy schemes can use to critically evaluate scheme performance’.

The pilot report did however highlight a number of key difficulties with the Quality Framework process,
in particular the:
time demands for evaluation for those involved many of whom are already over stretched

22
 complexity of the language used in the process
overly technical workbook.

Revision of the Quality Framework

Based on the pilot’s recommendations the following key revisions were made to the Quality Framework:
The language of the framework has been made more user friendly
Statements of Quality were organised into five Quality Areas – Resources, Teaching and Learning
Management, Progression & Outreach and Promotion
2 new Statements of Quality were added - Tutor Support and Internal Communication.

Quality Framework User Guide

The changes made to the Quality Framework were
incorporated into the new Quality Framework User Guide.
This Guide is still in draft form but will be finalised, based
on consultation with key stakeholders, early in 2002. We
are very confident that the guide will really help schemes
use the Quality Framework to best effect.

The Quality Framework User Guide is designed for use by

adult literacy schemes but can be used by other adult basic
education service providers. It is designed to be used in
conjunction with a NALA trained Quality Framework At the Quality Framework consultation day
facilitator. The guide includes suggestions and questions were Claire O’Riordan Quality Framework
Co-Ordinator with facilitators on the day
to aid discussion on quality statements, practical activities Madeline O’Donoghue & Patricia Hehir
and examples adapted from work and experiences of
teams involved in the pilot phase. Particularly useful new
features of the guide are:
Information sheets (e.g. research, management styles, presenting information)
Worksheets
Explanation of key terms e.g. evaluation, research, analysis
Glossary of terms.

Survey research
To plan for the mainstreaming of the NALA Quality Framework a survey questionnaire was sent to adult
basic education service providers. This was to ascertain their views on the Quality Framework and the
supports they would require to implement it. The survey was also to establish if they were already
implementing the Quality Framework to implement it more effectively. The response rate to the survey
was 70%. The main findings from the survey were as follows:
Adult literacy schemes were in favour of the Quality Framework in principle
Typically, however, they lacked the time, resources and staff to implement it
Schemes identified a number of supports they required in relation to the Quality Framework.

The findings of the survey helped in developing a draft of the Quality Framework implementation plan.

23
Development of the Quality Framework implementation plan
A draft implementation plan for the Quality Framework was drawn up towards the end of the year. It was
primarily based on the survey research findings and findings from the original pilot. It will be finalised
early in 2002 and will provide very significant support (financial and other) to participating schemes. It
is expected that all schemes involved in the original piloting of the project and a selection of new
schemes will participate in the Quality Framework in 2002.

If you would like further details of the Quality Framework plan have a look at the NALA website or
contact www.nala.ie for a copy of the plan (available February 2002).

24
 Chapter 5
Adult literacy research

"Informing the work of NALA with the most up-to-date and timely information."
This work relates to Step 3 in the NALA Strategic Plan, 1999 - 2001.

This section covers the following areas:

Assessment research
Workplace basic training research
Library and information service
Promoting research
Other NALA research activities.

NALA has an ongoing programme of research. This work has a

number of priorities, including supporting and informing specific
NALA projects. It also aims to influence government policy and
maintain a flow of relevant and timely information into the Agency.

Assessment research
The team
Work on the development of a national assessment framework began in 2001. A team from the Learning
from Experience Trust (LET) in the UK was appointed to develop a draft assessment framework. This
team was co-ordinated by Dr. Juliet Merrifield who has considerable experience and expertise in
developing an assessment framework for use in adult basic education, from her work in the US.

The first task before Dr. Merrifield and her team was to analyse existing international literature on
assessment of adult learners, identify international best practice, analyse theories of adult learning and
place all this within an Irish adult literacy context. A document was produced in Spring 2001 called
"Issues and Opportunities in Assessment". This document also identified the key stakeholders in adult
literacy provision in Ireland and the value of a national assessment framework to their work in quality
adult literacy provision. This was the first step towards developing a draft framework.
The team then consulted practitioners in 6 adult literacy settings throughout Ireland to gain an
understanding of the needs of tutors, learners and other key stakeholders in terms of assessment. This
also gave the team an insight into their hopes and concerns around the development of the NALA draft
assessment framework. With all this in mind, the team set about drafting a flexible, adaptable and user-
friendly assessment framework that would meet the needs of all key literacy stakeholders but would
primarily be of use in managing the learning and teaching process.

Assessment Seminar
A seminar was held in June 2001 in the Ashling Hotel, Dublin. Over 200 literacy stakeholders from all
over Ireland attended this seminar. Brenda Bell and Beth Bingman gave a presentation from the
University of Tennessee, USA. This presentation outlined the on-going development of their assessment
framework and gave an insight into the issues identified for consideration during that process. Ursula
Coleman and Olga Mc Donogh of the LET team presented an outline of the draft NALA draft assessment
framework.

The LET team guided by NALA, in consultation with other key stakeholders then further developed the
draft assessment framework. The draft framework was produced in a document entitled "Mapping the

25
Learning Journey". This document was sent to
all literacy schemes in Autumn 2001.
Testing, validation and elaboration of this
framework began with a new team in early
2002. This is due to be completed by June
2002. Implementation and mainstreaming of
the framework is scheduled to begin by
October 2002. Assessment was prioritised
both in policy and by our members for
research. The project is very exciting and has
generated a broad spectrum of interest. The At the June 2001 assessment seminar were
NALA Assessment Framework is part of the L to R: Olga Mc Donogh, Ursula Coleman with Beth Bingman
& Brenda Bell both of the University of Tennessee
NALA Evolving Quality Framework. and Gemma Lynch Literacy Assessment Project Co-ordinator

Workplace basic training research

In early 2001, NALA was awarded funding to conduct research to produce guidelines for employers for
workplace basic training provision. This is focussed on benefiting low-skilled employees who are at risk
of future unemployment. It will contain concrete guidelines for employers to introduce workplace basic
education for employees with low-level literacy skills. The NALA study is the first piece of Irish research
ever to be commissioned in this area. We have worked with two independent researchers, Olga
McDonagh and Frank Murtagh, over the duration of the project. The study will be published in Spring
2002.

Adult literacy premises survey

In 2000, NALA conducted a postal and telephone-survey of 71 out of an estimated 125 VEC Adult Literacy
Schemes. The findings were published in 2001.

Respondents were asked to identify specific problems with their premises. In all, 90% of respondents
reported serious dissatisfaction with the condition of their premises. This was the main finding of the
survey. Other findings included:
30% of respondents reported general and specialist room shortages, crowded and cramped
conditions
A further 33% reported poor facilities and resources
26% of respondents experienced access and/or availability problems with their premises.

This study was disseminated to a wide audience and the findings were
of such concern to everyone with an interest in adult literacy that it
was the subject of a Dáil question shortly after its publication.

Library & information service

During 2001, NALA provided an information service to a large number
of individuals conducting research on literacy issues. An in-house
electronic library database was also developed and mainstreamed.

26
The plan for 2002 is to conduct a feasibility study into the expansion of the library and information
service to the NALA membership. The membership will be consulted for their views. This will also
involve consultation with organisations in the community and voluntary sector already providing such
services to the public.

Promoting research
NALA is committed to promoting research on literacy issues by its membership and also by academics
and other external research bodies. This was achieved in 2001 via networking with and providing
information to like-minded bodies and organisations. Articles updating key stakeholders on the work of
the NALA research department and project developments were also published in NALA publications and
on the NALA website. The NALA research department also devoted some time to examining possible
funding sources for research projects including European funding opportunities. This work will be
strengthened and expanded in 2002.

Other NALA research activities

Below is a list of research activities undertaken by other NALA staff over the past year.
Evolving Quality Framework 1999-2000. Report on the NALA/Socrates Pilot implementation of
Evolving Quality Framework for adult basic education. See page 22 for more details
Read Write Now TV series 1 - Evaluation. See page 6 for more details
Return to Learning Initiative. Evaluation report on the Local Authority workplace pilot project
evaluation report and implementation guidelines. Report due Spring 2002. See page 9 for
more details.
Health and Literacy. See page 9 for more details.
Training Needs Assessment. Assessing the training needs of Adult Literacy Organisers and Tutors.
Results due Spring 2002. See page 25 for more details.
ESOL Executive Working Group. Developing policy guidelines, materials and support for literacy
practitioners working with adults whose first language is not English. Group convenes Spring
2002. See page 12 for more details.

27
Chapter 6
Promoting understanding, support & action

"Informing, providing a deeper understanding and stimulating support

and involvement in adult literacy".
This work relates to Step 6 and 7 in the NALA Strategic Plan 1999 - 2001.

This section outlines work carried out to develop deeper understanding, support and involvement in
adult literacy among a wide range of target audiences. These activities include:
Update of the website
Developing publications & printed material
Events
Media coverage
Analysing the effectiveness of our communications.

Update of the website

Although the World Wide Web has fallen out of favour in some quarters, NALA have found it to be a
highly effective communications and promotion tool. It is also excellent at delivering large amounts of
information about our work quickly and cost effectively. This year, after much work in 2000 by Jennifer
Lynch, saw the complete update of the NALA website. This involved:
Providing substantial input on layout and design
Writing and editing a wide range of text
Providing the website developer with a large amount of visual material
Testing the website extensively
Promoting the website widely and encouraging its use.

One of the major criticisms of websites is that their content soon

becomes dated. With that in mind the NALA website is updated
regularly with a wide range of new material being entered on the site.
The reaction to the new website has been very positive, in fact it was
nominated by the Irish Internet Association for a national award. In
addition the number of weekly ‘hits’ or visitors to the website are
now in the thousands. While the ‘lions share’ are from Ireland and
the UK there are numbers from as far a field as Japan, Poland and
Saudi Arabia who visit the NALA website.

Developing publications & printed material

NALA Newsletter
Over the last 12 months the NALA Newsletter has expanded in size and range of content. It now includes
new items on ‘News from around Ireland’, a ‘Noticeboard’ for events and a substantial section on
literacy resources. This is in addition to items on the wide range of publications, events and initiatives
undertaken by NALA. The distribution of the NALA Newsletter has been enhanced with personal
communications to a wider range of influential individuals and organisations. Three editions were
produced in 2001/2 and distributed to 2,500 literacy practitioners, the media, politicians, national
educational & voluntary sector organisations, community groups and Government Departments.

28
NALA Journal
This year we moved the contents and the style of the NALA Journal towards a
publication giving a more detailed and technical insight into NALA’s work.
The mailing list was increased by over 500 influential individuals, which
includes policy makers, researchers, politicians and academics. All received
the NALA Journal in 2001 with a personal letter.

Other Publications
Other publications produced were the ‘Tutors Bulletin’ and most notable the
‘Literacy Awareness’ brochure. The latter, although originally targeted at
Human Resources Managers and other managers, was in great in demand by
a much wider group because of its visual innovativeness. Additional
publications produced include the following:
Adult literacy referral guidelines
NUI Maynooth Integrating Literacy course promotional leaflet
Flyers for;
- Read Write Now TV series 2
- Read Write Now radio series
- Time 4 Learning radio series
‘15 ways to boost literacy’ card

There also was input provided to other NALA publications such as:
- NALA evaluation of the Regional Tutors Fora
- The NALA Resource Guide
- NALA Quality Framework
- TV & radio series learner packs
- ‘Euro Chageover made simple’ leaflet
- Training calendar
- Development of the NALA information pack in Irish
- Update and reprint of Writing & Design Tips

Events
International Literacy Day
International Literacy Day (ILD), supported by the Department of Social,
Community & Family Affairs, took place in Dublin in October 2001 with the
theme ‘Literacy for Life’. For all those working in adult literacy it is clear that
it is a skill that is fundamental for a better life. 2001 celebration of ILD was an
opportunity to reinforce this belief and highlight it to the wider public. NALA
did this by examining the implications of literacy in everyday situations such
as the family, the workplace, the Euro and health at the event.

Over 200 people attended the event and all had an exciting and enjoyable
day. The high point of ILD was the attendance of An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern
TD who addressed the gathering. Another high point was the entertaining
and informative presentations by Neil Griffiths, family literacy innovator from
the UK. Other speakers included:

29
 Literacy & Health - Jennifer Lynch, NALA
Literacy & money - Monica Macnamara, Training
Consultant
The NALA Quality Framework - Claire O’Riordan, NALA
Quality Framework Co-ordinator and Madelaine
Donohoe, Q.F. Cosultant
Initiating Workplace Literacy Programmes
- Helen Ryan, NALA
- Maura Ni Dhonhnaill, Partnership Facilitator, South
Dublin County. Council
- Peter McKay, VEC Tutor, South Dublin Local Authority
Workplace Programme
Computers and the Internet for all - Elaine Butler,
Equalskills.

Department of Social, Community & Family Affairs provided

the funding for International Literacy Day. An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern
speaking at the International Literacy day

National Literacy Awareness Week

Although there were major plans for National Literacy Awareness week, this was affected to a great
degree by the events of September 11th. We did achieve limited coverage particularly in the local media.
It was also an opportunity to support local VEC Adult Literacy Schemes in their promotional work. In
addition stronger links were created with businesses and other organisations offering them a chance to
support NALA’s communications activity.

A range of specialised visual material and support services were organised for these and other events.

Coverage in the media

In this era of information overload NALA recognises that the value of our message is not enough to get
coverage in the media. In the last year the Agency has been striving to develop closer contacts with the
media. This has involved one-to-one meetings, frequent telephone and email contact and a stream of
material by post and fax. In 2001 media databases were completely revised and expanded to include a
substantial range of specialist media particularly in education and social affairs. These are in addition
to complete lists of national media covering news and features.

13 press releases were issued and a similar number of press notices and photocall notices were issued
to an average of 100 media contacts. This achieved extensive coverage in the media in 2001 covering
local, national and specialist broadcast and print media. This culminated in three separate interviews on
the influential news programme Morning Ireland. We also received coverage on RTÉ ‘Six One News’,
Ireland AM (TV3), the Gerry Ryan Show, Open House (RTÉ TV 1), Today FM news as well as a range of
coverage in the national daily newspapers. Press launches included:

30
 Read Write Now radio series 1
Read Write Now TV series 2
Time 4 Learning radio numeracy series
Workplace literacy
The role of the volunteer Literacy Tutor
Health and literacy
Local authority workplace literacy programme national roll-out
Response to the White Paper
Response to the PISA survey

As part of our work in relation to media coverage there have been efforts to diversify into more highly
specialised media. These are publications in particular which have substantial targeted audiences.
Coverage achieved included:
The Farmers Journal
Industrial Relations News
ASTI News
Irish Times Magazine
Irish Independent Magazine

Analysing the effectiveness of our communications

NALA commits a large amount of time and resources to its promotion and communications activities.
It was decided to carry out a ‘Communications & Promotion Audit’ which wa carried out in 2002.
The focus of this was to further optimise the use of our resources. This process involved:
Seeking tenders from five contractors
Assessing tender documents
Hosting presentations & interview process.

Following the choice of the communications auditor a detailed plan was drawn up. This process was
then supported through extensive input and monitoring. The report of this work is expected to be
available in early 2002.

31
Chapter 7
Report on the NALA AGM May 2001

"Ensuring the aims and objectives of the Agency are put into practice."

This section deals with:

Motions discussed
New NALA Executive Members

The NALA AGM took place in Dublin in May 2001, which attracted an attendance of 150 of our members.
At this event a new group of people were nominated to the NALA Executive, which oversees the work
of NALA.

Proposals discussed
The following were the range of motions that were proposed, discussed and passed at the NALA AGM:
That NALA convene meetings with the Speech and Language Association of Ireland and the
Dyslexia Association of Ireland and other related bodies in the area of specific learning difficulties,
to discuss developing a strategy paper to address the needs of adults with specific learning
difficulties.
Proposed by Pauline Breslin and seconded by Marian Lynch. See Training section page 18 for
details.
That NALA promote linkages between the literacy service and community education projects,
which offer literacy students wider learning opportunities.
Proposed by Brian O Foiréis and seconded by Mary Cashin. See New Projects section page 6 for
details.
That NALA carry out an audit of literacy provision for speakers of other languages and draw up a
discussion document putting forward proposals to the Department of Education and Science.
Proposed by: Mary Kett and seconded by Margaret Burke. See Training section page 18 for details.
That following on from NALA becoming a company limited by guarantee, the Agency will examine
further developmental changes in management structures of the organisation.
Proposed by Mary Maher and seconded by Ernie Sweeney.
That NALA collaborate with the Adult Literacy Organisers Association (ALOA) to develop policy
guidelines on the provision of English classes and other learning support services, for refugees,
asylum seekers and other non-nationals.
Proposed by The Executive of the ALOA and seconded by Lucan Adult Basic Education Centre. See
Training section page 18 for details.

New Executive Members

The following people went forward to fill the five vacant seats on the NALA Executive Committee:
Alice Cambell, Mayo Adult Literacy Service
Joaquina McHugh, Dun Laoghaire Adult English Service
Peggy Murphy, KLEAR
Columba O’Connor, Dublin Adult Learning Centre
Michael O’Toole, Kildare Adult Literacy
Bernadette Sproule, CDVEC was co-opted onto the NALA Executive after the AGM.

32
 Chapter 8
International developments & links

"Keeping up-to-date and creating links at an international level."

This work relates to Step 1 and 6 in the NALA Strategic Plan 1999 - 2001.

This section deals with:

Basic Skills Agency (BSA) International Exchange Meeting
Three events in one visit!
Copenhagen
Other international speaking opportunities
International visitors to NALA’s Dublin office

NALA has from the outset been an organisation with an international perspective. This has involved
keeping up-to-date with developments in literacy work at a European and worldwide level. It has also
included staff visits to other literacy organisations and projects outside Ireland. In addition the Agency
also hosts visits from literacy organisations, practitioners educationalists and researchers. 2001/02 was
no exception to this and below are the highlights of this activity.

International Exchange Meeting

NALA staff and a member of the executive attended the International Exchange
Meeting organised by the Basic Skills Agency (BSA) in the UK in November 2001.
Other literacy organisations from the United States, Canada, Wales, Northern
Ireland and Republic of Ireland were also in attendance.
The meeting examined three main issues
what is happening in other countries
what are the key issues that affect everyone in these countries
how the Exchange might work over the next few years.

Although the event was hosted by the BSA, the objective of the meeting was to create partnerships
between the literacy services from the different participating countries. This meeting specifically
focused on:
The exploration of common issues and developing possible solutions e.g. motivating learners;
effective teaching, assessment, etc.
Joint ‘projects’ using e-mail, the Web, video conferencing, etc. between small groups of
participants that will form the basis of each country workshop
Site visits as part of the ‘country’ workshops
A final publication that suggests how difficult issues faced by all of the countries taking part might
be solved.

Three events in one visit!

In December last year Fergus Dolan, Training Officer must have broken a record by
getting in three major events in one international visit. This took place in the UK and
the delegation from Ireland included a number of other adult literacy practitioners.
The events were:
UK National Strategy for Adult Literacy and Numeracy conference

33
 ‘Delivering Skills for Life’ conference
Site visits to two Pathfinder Programmes.
This visit was very useful for seeing good practice but because of the intensity of the visit it was difficult
to engage in networking. UK National Strategy for Adult Literacy and Numeracy event examined the
practical application of ABE in everyday life. The other event focused on the development of Literacy
Services and addressed ‘Quality & Curriculum’. The ‘Delivering Skills for Life’ event was a very intense
range of workshops and speakers. It covered such areas as Teacher Training, ESOL, Family Learning and
ICT. The final part of this visit dealt with the more practical parts of literacy provision and involved visits
to ‘Pathfinder’ projects. As well as providing ABE support they have a role in getting people into work.
They include such supports as ESOL, an "Employability Unit", where learners are supported in their
search for work.

Lifelong learning - Copenhagen

NALA was invited by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Dundalk
Institute of Technology to attend a conference on lifelong learning in
Copenhagen. The theme of this event was "Lifelong learning – a
core field for national action and international co-operation". The
main guest speaker was Villy Hovard Pedersen, Ministry of
Education, Denmark. The conference specifically looked at:
The Learning Society and active citizenship
Human resource development and the knowledge economy
Lifelong Learning in Asia – outlook and perspectives.

The event also had a series of specific workshops on the implications and practice of lifelong learning.
Of particular interest was the presence of representatives for Asia in particular Thailand and Malaysia.
This was the first major opportunity for NALA to get insights into approaches to literacy in the Far East.

Other international speaking opportunities

Invitations to speak on Irish developments came from the Basic Skills Agency for their English and
Welsh conferences.
In Scotland, Reid Kerr College invited NALA to contribute to an international conference with
speakers from the US, Australia, England and Scotland.

International visitors to NALA’s Dublin office

NALA hosted a number of visits to the Dublin office in 2001/2002. These included academics,
researchers and adult literacy professionals. One of these was Michael Cowan a specialist in adult
literacy from Loyola University in the US. There was also a delegation of educationalists from Ethiopia,
which was organised through the Department of Foreign Affairs.

34
 Chapter 9
Links with external organisations & initiatives

"Developing links and maintaining partnerships"

This sections lists external organisations and initiatives which NALA are involved with. These include:
Dental Health Foundation
Equalskills
Adult Education Guidance Initiative
Inter-Departmental Group on Literacy & Unemployment
Education Equality Initiative (EEI)
Local Authority National Partnership Advisory Group (LANPAG)
National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (NQAI)
Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI)
Workers Educational Network (WEA) OWL Basic Skills Pilot Initiative
ADM Partnerships Education Co-ordinators
Community Platform
Community Workers Co-operative (CWC)
Irish National Organisation for the Unemployed (INOU)
Irish Trade Union Trust (ITUT)
Business in the Community
Information Society Commission
National Adult Learning Council
Meetings with IVEA, ALOA, BETA, CEDA
Educational Disadvantage Committee

Since its establishment NALA has been developing links with a wide variety of organisations nationally
and internationally. In addition it develops partnerships with organisations in relation to specific
projects and work programmes. The aim of this activity is to place adult literacy on the agenda of others
and to raise awareness of the issue.

Dental Health Foundation

We continued to work with the Foundation as part of the committee on the Mighty Mouth programme.
This is an oral health programme developed to address the oral health needs of senior infant school-
going children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds in the Eastern Region Health Authority. Key
messages of the programme focused on supervised brushing of teeth, use of recommended pea-sized
amount of toothpaste, regular brushing and consumption of tooth friendly foodstuffs. The results from
this pilot were published in April 2001. This exciting project showed that innovative educational
programmes, that are “literacy friendly” could change children’s behaviour and knowledge.

In December we also attended the formal launch of their research report "Oral Health in Disadvantaged
Schools in the Eastern Regional Health Authority Area."

35
Equalskills
We have worked with the Equalskills team, the project to promote access to ICT, to
highlight this pilot initiative. A workshop took place at our International Literacy Day
celebrations in September 2001. This project generated huge interest and we await the
evaluation report. We also attended an IT and education seminar organized by the South
West Regional Authority (SWRA). Seminars such as these add to our understanding of
how ICT can be used as an education tool.

Community Workers Co-operative (CWC)

NALA is a member of the CWC. The CWC is a national network of over 600 individuals and organisations
engaged in a broad range of community based projects and initiatives.

National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (NQAI)

NALA was appointed to the NQAI, being nominated by Minister Woods
T.D., Minister for Education & Science for the Community and Voluntary
sector. Their main task is to develop a national qualifications framework.

The National Adult Learning Council (NALC)

NALA was invited in 2002 to become a member of the National Adult Learning Council (NALC) which will
guide the strategic development of adult and basic education in Ireland.

Department of Social Community & Family Affairs

Department of Social Community & Family Affairs are funders of International Literacy Day and support a
range of other work of the Agency

Workers Educational Network (WEN) OWL Basic Skills Pilot Initiative

NALA are members of Workers Educational Network (WEN) OWL Basic Skills Pilot Initiative Committee.
This is a women’s educational/training cross border project which offers community-based accredited
education courses to women in a whole range of local venues. The pilot project involved the
development and piloting of an accredited tailor made basic skills course to women with reading and
writing difficulties.

Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI)

The FSAI contacted NALA to discuss adult literacy in the food safety sector.
NALA presented the various options available to them from awareness to
running a pilot workplace project. We agreed to work on a project with FSAI in
2002 to develop a food safety-training programme for employees in the food
industry with literacy and/or language difficulties.

ADM Partnership Education Co-ordinators

The Agency presented its work to ADM Partnerships Education Co-ordinators at their national meeting in
Tullamore on Monday 26th November 2001.

36
Community Platform
NALA is a member of the Community Platform and attend Platform meetings on a monthly basis. We
work closely with member organisations in the Platform on adult literacy issues and facilitated literacy
awareness training for interested groups in the summer.

Local Authority National Partnership Advisory Group

Local Authority National Partnership Advisory Group (LANPAG) initiated with NALA the
Return to Learning Workplace Project in the Local Authorities.

Information Society Commission

In 2001 Inez Bailey, NALA Director, was invited to become a member of the Information Society
Commission (ISC). The new ISC will have a key role in shaping the evolving public policy framework for
the Information Society in Ireland. Inez is focusing on ‘eInclusion and lifelong learning’ priority areas for
the ISC.

Literacy Implementation Group

The Literacy Implementation Group brings together all adult literacy stakeholder groups who monitor
the implementation of adult literacy sections of the Government White Paper “Learning for Life” on the
future of adult education.

INOU
The Agency was represented on the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the INOU for
the last three years. A decision was made not to go forward for election in 2002. We
continue to work closely with them on issues around literacy, unemployment and the
labour market.

Irish Trade Union Trust (ITUT)

NALA sits on the ITUT board. ITUT is the social solidarity arm of Services Industrial Professional
Technical Union (SIPTU), with one of its services being the SIPTU Basic English Scheme.

Business in the Community

NALA has developed contacts and had meetings with Business in the Community in 2001. This is to
enable the Agency to develop mutually beneficial relations with large businesses in Ireland.

Other organisations to which NALA has given input

Euro Changeover Board
Department of Social Community & Family Affairs Euro changeover communications group
National Centre for Guidance in Education
The Department of Education & Science ‘Education Equality Initiative’
EU Committee on basic skills
Kings Inn – solicitor training
Church of Ireland College of Education – Diploma in Special Needs course.

37
Acknowledgements

The National Adult Literacy Agency would like to acknowledge

the following organisations and individuals for their support
over the during 2001/02.

The Department of Education & Science

The Department of Social, Community & Family Affairs

The Department of Health & Children

FÁS

Euro Changeover Board

Members of the Health & Literacy working group

Members of the ESOL Committee

Members of the Workplace Literacy Strategy Group

The NALA Executive Committee

Peter Sheridan, Author

Emmet Oliver, Irish Times

Neil Griffiths, Story Sacks

Inez McCormack, ICTU

Professor Aine Hyland

City of Cork VEC

Literacy Through the Media Editorial Board

38

ABE
Adult Basic Education - refers to the
development of competence in adult skills
that are needed to fully take part in
society such as literacy numeracy,
communications
ADM
Area Development Management – a
statutory organisation set up by the
Department of An Taoiseach which funds
and oversees local development projects
AEOA
Adult Education Organisers
AEOA
Adult Education Organisers’ Association
AGM
Annual General Meeting
ALO
Adult Literacy Organisers
ALOA
Adult Literacy Organisers’ Association
AP(E)L
Accreditation of Prior (Experiential)
Learning
ALS
Adult Literacy Scheme
Assessment Framework
Guide to know where a learner is when
starting tuition and how well the learner is
progressing
Basic Skills Unit
The Basic Skills Unit, based within the
Educational Guidance Service for Adults is
a strategic body that advocates and
advises on adult basic skills issue in
Northern Ireland
BETA
Basic Education Tutors Association -
represents salaried Adult Literacy Tutors
Glossary
BSA
Basic Skills Agency – organisation for the
support and development of ABE in
England & Wales
CAIT
Community Application of Information
Technology Initiative
CDP
Community Development Project
CE
Community Employment – FAS
employment training programmes in
operation through out Ireland
CEEOA
Chief Executive & Education Officers
Association representing CEOs & EOs in
VECs
CEO
Chief Executive Officer – the most senior
management position in a VEC
CERT
The State Tourism Training Agency
CIF
Construction Industry Federation -
employer representative body
CTW
Community Training Workshops – training
unit, in different centres around Ireland,
providing vocational and ABE skills to
early school leavers who are over 18 years
of age
CWC
Community Workers Co-op
Dental Health Foundation
Government funded organisations
promoting better dental health
DES
Department of Education & Science
DETE
Department of Enterprise Trade &
Employment
39
Distance Education ISME
Learning at home Irish Small & Medium Enterpises -
employer representative body
ECDL
European Computer Driving Licence ITUT
Irish Trade Union Trust
EEI
Education Equality Initiative IVEA
Irish Vocational Education Association
Educational Disadvantage Committee representing Vocational Education
Government committee to examine and Committees
devise solutions to tackle the issue of
educational disadvantage Key Performance Indicators
Signs of Achievement
EO
Education Officer – the senior education LALB
staff member in a VEC Local Adult Learning Board
ESOL Library Council An Chomhairle Leabharlanna
English for speakers of other languages The Library Council is the advisory body
on public libraries to national and local
EU government in Ireland
European Union
LIP
FAS Literacy Implementation Plan
The National Training and Employment
Authority Literacy Implementation Group
Committee established to oversee the
FETAC implementation of the adult programmes
Further Education Training Awards Council of the White Paper
FSAI Mission Statement
Food Safety Authority of Ireland – What we are about
statutory body establish top over see the
improvement of food safety NALC
National Adult Learning Council –
IBEC statutory body established to oversee the
Irish Busines Employers Confederation - implementation of the White Paper
employer representative body “Learning for Life”
ICCPE NALP
Irish Centre for Continuing Pharmaceutical National Adult Literacy Programme
Education
NAPS
ICT National Anti-Poverty Strategy –
Information & Communications government medium term plan to tackle
Technology poverty
ICTU NCCA
Irish Congress of Trade Unions National Council for Curriculum &
ISC Assessment
Information Society Commission – which NCGE
is devising a strategy for development of National Centre for Guidance in Education
ICT in Irish society

40
NDP VEC
National Development Plan - government Vocational Education Committees –
medium term plan for economic and managing adult and further education at
social development Regional to County level
NQAI VTOS
National Qualifications Authority of Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme
Ireland – Government funded body which
manages qualifications at national level Western Health Board
public health services operation and
NTDI management organisation for the western
National Training and Development region
Institutes – Independent education
White Paper - Learning for Life
organisation which provides courses in
Government policy document outlining
different centres around Ireland for people the plan for the future of adult education
with learning disabilities
WIT
Plain English/Plain Language Waterford Institute of Technology
Use of clear words and sentences for – a third level educational institute
easier reading
Youthreach
Return to Education Refers to local training units, in different
A nine hour per week basic education centres around Ireland, providing
programme for people on CE vocational and basic skills to early school
SFA leavers under18 years of age
Small Firm Association - employer
representative body
SIPTU
Services, Industrial, Professional &
Technical Union
Strategic Intent
What we need to do
Teagasc
The Irish Agricultural and Food
Development Authority
TEAM
Together Everyone Achieves More
Traveller Training Workshops
Local organisations providing vocational
training for adult Travellers
UNISON
Trade Union which represents public
service workers in Britain and Northern
Ireland

41
 NALA Financial Statements
for the year ended 31st December 2001

Report of the Auditors to the Members of the

National Adult Literacy Agency

Income & Expenditure Account

Balance Sheet as at the

31st December 2000

Notes to the Accounts

42
Report of the Auditors to the
Members of the National Adult
Literacy Agency

We, the undersigned, have audited the financial

statements of the National Adult Literacy Agency
on pages 44 to 48.
Our audit was conducted in accordance with
approved auditing standards.

In our opinion the financial statements give a true

and fair view of the state of the Agency's affairs at
the 31st December 2001 and of its deficit for the
year then ended. We have obtained all the
information and explanations which we considered
necessary for our audit. The accounts are in
agreement with the underlying books and records.

SEAN CONLON & CO.

Registered Auditors & Certified Public Accountants

6th February 2002

Treasurers Report
The audited accounts for the year ended December
2001 showed that the finances of the Agency are
sound.

Mary Kett, Treasurer

43
Income & Expenditure Account
for the year ended 31st December 2001

Notes 2001 (£) 2001 (euro)

INCOME
Government Grants 2 1,303,787 1,655,468
Membership Fees 17,741 22,526
Interest Receivable 906 1,150
Resource Room 3 5,763 7,318
Other Income 8 175,764 223,174
1,503,961 1,909,637
ADMINISTRATION
Salaries 102,384 130,001
Pensions 11,778 14,955
Telephone 13,567 17,227
Stationery & Photocopying 12,194 15,483
Postage 28,001 35,554
Bank Charges 593 753
Furniture & Equipment 13,077 16,604
Subscriptions & Advertising 5,146 6,534
Executive Committee Expenses 5,144 6,532
Audit, Accountancy & Professional fees 5,048 6,410
Miscellaneous 874 1,110
Office Equipment Maintenance 4,929 6,259
202,735 257,420
PREMISES
Rent & Cleaning 36,246 46,023
Insurance 3,869 4,913
Heat & Light 2,286 2,903
42,401 53,838

44
 Notes 2001 (£) 2001 (euro)

DEVELOPMENT & RESEARCH

Salaries 337,909 429,056
Printing, Publishing & Advertising 57,583 73,115
Travel, Subsistence & Training 27,729 35,209
Meetings & Seminars 35,732 45,370
LAT/ NUI Training 28,821 36,595
Scheme Training 139,462 177,080
CAIT 7,729 9,814
Special Projects 4 100,119 127,125
Quality Framework 22,236 28,234
Research/Assessment 42,033 53,371
T.V. /Radio project 461,572 586,076
1,260,925 1,601,044

TOTAL EXPENDITURE 1,506,061 1,912,303

Surplus ( Deficit ) for the Year -2,100 -2,666

Signed on behalf of the Committee By:

Mary Kett

Inez Bailey

45
Balance Sheet
as at the year ended 31st December 2001

Notes 2001 (£) 2001 (euro)

CURRENT ASSETS
Stocks: Resource Room 30,218 38,369
Stationery 1,052 1,336
Debtors 5 74,991 95,219
Bank Balance & Cash on Hand 64,665 82,108
170,926 217,031
CREDITORS
(Falling due within one year) 6 -142,972 -181,537

TOTAL ASSETS LESS LIABILITIES 27,954 35,494

REPRESENTED BY:
Accumulated surplus at 1.1.2001 30,054 38,161
Surplus for the Year -2,100 -2,666
27,954 35,494

Signed on Behalf of the Committee By:

Mary Kett

Inez Bailey

46
 Notes on the Accounts
for the year ended 31st December 2001

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. Fixed Assets are
written off to Income & Expenditure Account in the year the expenditure is incurred. It is normal
accounting practice that fixed assets be capitalised and written off to expenditure, by means of
depreciation, over their useful lives. Capital grants arising are accordingly written off to income in the
year received. Where grants are received in the year and the related expenditure is to be incurred in a
later year the grants are shown as deferred income, under creditors and accruals, in the balance sheet.

2001 (£) 2001 (euro)

2. GOVERNMENT GRANTS
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Core Grant 202,000 256,487
Special allocation 798,000 1,013,251
Deferred in 2000 119,000 151,099

OTHER GOVERNMENT GRANTS

Department of Social Community
& Family Affairs 60,000 76,184
Department of Health 30,000 38,092
FAS 60,787 77,184
LANPAG 34,000 43,171
1,303,787 1,655,468

3. RESOURCE ROOM
Opening Stocks of Books 25,518 32,401
Purchases for the year 145,175 184,334
170,693 216,735
Closing Stocks of Books 30,218 38,369
Cost of Books sold 140,475 178,366
Sales for the year 146,238 185,684
Surplus ( Deficit) 5,763 7,318

47
Notes on the Accounts (continued)
2001 (£) 2001 (euro)

4. SPECIAL PROJECTS
Pilot Workplace Programme 80,004 101,584
Health Project 15,115 19,192
Development of Numeracy Materials 5,000 6,349
100,119 127,125
5. DEBTORS:
Debtors for books 25,619 32,529
Prepayments/other debtors 4,387 5,570
FAS 44,985 57,119
74,991 95,219

6. CREDITORS
(Due within one year)
Creditors & Accruals 142,972 181,537
142,972 181,537

7. PENSION
The agency operates a defined contribution scheme. The employee contributes 5% of salary and the agency
10%. The employees share is included in the salary figure in these statements.

8. OTHER INCOME
Miscellaneous 8,772 11,138
Euro Changeover Board 60,000 76,184
Grant from Social Comm. & Family Affairs (ILD 2000/2001) 33,037 41,948
Training fees 63,000 79,993
CAIT 10,955 13,910
175,764 223,174

9. THE SOCRATES PROJECT

The Socrates project has had an audit carried out separately.
The bank account is reflected in these accounts.

10. SECURITY
The Bank holds no security from the officers or members.

48
 Nala Membership Corporate
ADULT LITERACY SCHEMES Kanturk Adult Literacy Scheme
Kerry Education Service – Literacy & Life Skills
A.B.L.E. - Blanchardstown
Programme:
A,B.L.E.S. – Cork
Cahirciveen Adult Literacy Scheme
Altrusa/VEC Adult Literacy Scheme, Cork
Dingle Adult Literacy Scheme
Arklow Adult Literacy Scheme
Kenmare Adult Literacy Scheme
Athlone Reading & Writing Group
Killarney Adult Literacy Scheme
Ballincollig Adult Literacy Group
Killorglin Adult Literacy Scheme
Ballymun Adult Literacy Scheme
Listowel Adult Literacy Scheme
Baltinglass Adult Literacy Scheme
Tralee Adult Literacy Scheme
Bandon Adult Literacy Scheme
Kildare/Athy Adult Learning Centre
Bantry Adult Literacy Scheme
Kilmallock Literacy Group
Basic Education Service – Tallaght
Kinsale Read & Write Group
Bishopstown Adult Literacy Scheme
KLEAR – Kilbarrack
Blessington Literacy Scheme (LIFE),
Larkin Community College Adult Literacy Scheme
Bray Adult Literacy Learning Programme
LEAP – Leitrim Education for Adults Programme
Cabra Adult Literacy Scheme
Letterkenny Adult Literacy Scheme
Carnew Literacy Scheme
Leixlip Adult English Scheme
Carrigaline Adult Literacy Scheme
Liberties Adult Literacy Scheme
Carrigtohill Adult Literacy Group
Limerick Adult Learner Support Services
Cavan Adult Learning Centre
Longford Adult Literacy Scheme
Charleville Adult Literacy Scheme
Lucan Adult Basic Education Centre
Clonakilty Adult Literacy League
Macroom Adult Literacy Scheme
Clondalkin Basic Education Centre
Mahon Adult Literacy Scheme
Cobh Read Write & Spell Centre
Mallow Adult Learning Centre
Co. Carlow Adult Literacy Scheme
Mayo North Adult Literacy Scheme
Co. Clare Reading & Writing Scheme
Mayo South Adult Literacy Scheme
Co. Donegal Adult Literacy Service
Midleton Adult Literacy Scheme
Co. Laois Adult Literacy Scheme
Mitchelstown Adult Literacy Association
Co. Limerick Adult Literacy Scheme
Mullingar Literacy & Employment Centre
Co. Meath Adult Literacy Scheme
Naas Adult English
Co. Monaghan Adult Literacy Service
Newcastlewest Literacy Group
Co. Offaly Reading & Writing Scheme
Northside Reading & Writing Centre
Co. Tipperary (NR) Adult Literacy Scheme
North West Cork Adult Literacy Service
Co. Tipperary (SR) Adult Literacy Scheme
North Cork Adult Literacy Service
Co. Wexford Adult Literacy Scheme
Read Write Now/Ballyphehane
Dublin Adult Learning Centre
Ringsend Literacy Scheme
Dublin City S.W. Adult Reading & Writing Scheme
Roscommon Adult Literacy Scheme
Duhallow Adult Literacy Scheme
Schull Adult Literacy Group
Dundrum Adult Literacy Scheme
SIPTU Basic Education Service
Dungarvan Adult Education Centre
Skibbereen Adult Learning Scheme
Dun Laoghaire Adult Learning Centre
Slane Adult Literacy Scheme
Dunshaughlin Adult Literacy Scheme
T.A.R.G.E.T. - Donaghmede
East Galway Adult Literacy Scheme
Tramore Adult Education Centre
Farranree Literacy Scheme
Tuam Adult Literacy Centre
Fermoy Adult Literacy Scheme
Waterford City Adult Literacy Scheme
Fingal Adult Literacy Scheme
West Galway Adult Literacy Scheme
Finglas Adult Literacy Scheme
Wicklow Adult Learning Centre
Galway Adult Literacy Group
Wordaid – Kilkenny
Inchicore Adult Literacy Scheme
Write On – Mayfield
Inishowen Adult Literacy Group
Write Together Group – Churchfield
Ionad Foghlama Iarthar na Gaillimhe
Youghal Adult Literacy Scheme

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VOCATIONAL EDUCATION COMMITTEES Laois County Library
Limerick County Library
(VECS) Longford County Library
City of Cork V.E.C. Louth County Library
City of Dublin V.E.C. Mayo County Library
City of Galway VEC Meath County Library
City of Limerick V.E.C. Offaly County Library
City of Waterford V.E.C. Roscommon County Library
Co. Carlow V.E.C. Shankhill Public Library,
Co. Cavan V.E.C. Sligo County Library
Co. Clare V.E.C. South Dublin Library Service
Co. Cork VEC Stillorgan Public Library
Co. Dublin V.E.C. Tipperary Joint County Libraries
Co. Galway V.E.C. Waterford City Library
Co. Kildare V.E.C. Waterford County Libraries
Co. Kilkenny V.E.C. Wexford County Library
Co. Laois V.E.C. Wicklow County Library
Co. Leitrim V.E.C.
Co. Limerick V.E.C. OTHER CORPORATE GROUPS
Co. Longford V.E.C. Access 2000
Co. Louth V.E.C. Action Inishowen
Co. Mayo V.E.C. A.E.O.Association
Co. Meath V.E.C. A.L.O. Association
Co. Monaghan V.E.C. AONTAS
Co. Offaly V.E.C. ARIS – Australia
Co. Roscommon V.E.C. A.S.T.I.
Co. Sligo V.E.C. Association of Community & Comprehensive Schools,
Co. Tipperary (NR) V.E.C. Athone Community Training Workshop
Co. Tipperary (SR) V.E.C. Athy Travellers’ Club
Co. Waterford V.E.C. Ballinasloe Community Information Centre
Co. Westmeath V.E.C. Ballinasloe Training Workshop
Co. Wexford V.E.C. Ballymun Job Centre Co-op
Co. Wicklow V.E.C. Ballymun Community Training Workshop
Ballymun LEC Literacy Project
LIBRARIES Belfast Unemployed Centre
An Chomhairle Leabharlanna Bernardo’s
Blanchardstown Public Library Blackpool/Glen/Faranree Community Youth Training
Bray Public Library Workshop
Cabinteely Public Library Bridge Project
Deansgrange Public Library Bungalow Resource Centre
Dublin Corporation Public Libraries C.D.C.D. Network
Dundrum Public Library Canal Communities Training Programme (TURAS)
Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown Public Library Service Capuchin Education & Training
Carlow County Library Castlebar ICTU Centre for Unemployed
Clare County Library Castlerea Prison
Cork County Library Catholic Youth Centre
Cork City Public Libraries Cherry Orchard Family Centre
Cork Public Libraries Child & Family Services
Donegal County Library Centre for Literacy, Canada
Kerry County Library Clare LES
Kildare County Library Clare Youth Service
Kilkenny County Library, CLASP - Community of Lough Arrow

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Clondalkin Partnership Co.
Clonmel Youth Training Enterprise
C.O.R.I.
Co. Carlow Youth Employment Ltd.
Co. Monaghan Partnership Co.
Co. Wexford Partnership Co.
Community Employment, Cork
Community Connections, Cavan
Connolly Information Centre
Convent of Mercy, Kanturk
Cooperation Ireland
COPE Foundation Cork City
COPE Foundation – Fermoy
Cork Traveller Adult Education
Cumas Teo – ADM
Donegal Women’s Network
Donnycarney Youth Project
Drogheda Centre for Unemployed
Drogheda Community Workshop
Drogheda Youth Education
Duagh Family Centre
Dublin Inner City Partnership
Dundalk Employment Partnership
Dundalk Resource Centre for Unemployed
Dun Laoghaire Community Training Workshop
Dyslexia Association of Ireland
Education Research Centre, Drumcondra, Dublin
Enable Ireland
Exchange House
FAS - The National Training & Employment Agency
F.E.T.A.C.
Fingal ICTU Centre for the Unemployed
Finglas/Cabra Partnership
Francis Street Community Education Centre
Galway Centre for the Unemployed
Galway City Partnership
Galway Travellers’ Support Group
Glasnevin Heritage Project
Good Shephard Services
Gorey Community School
Henrietta Adult & Community Education (HACE)
Inishowen Partnership Board
I.N.O.U.
I.N.TO.
Ird Duhallow Ltd. ADM
Irish Association of Older People
Irish Association for Supported Employment
Irish Learning Support Association
I.V.E.A.
JAEN – Jobstown Ad. Ed. Network
Kilkenny Employment for Youth
Knockanrawley Resource Centre
Letterkenny ICTU Centre for the Unemployed
Limerick Centre for the Unemployed
Limerick LES
Loughlinstown Employment Group
Loughrea Communit Training Workshop
Lourdes Youth & Community Services
MABS Dun Laoghaire
Mayfield Youth Training Workshop
Mayo Local Employment Service
Mercy Family Centre
Mervagh Resource Centre
Ministries Development Office, Terenure
Mullingar Training Development Agency
National Centre for Guidance in Education
National Educational Psychological Service
National Youth Development Organisation
N.C.C.C.A.P.
Near FM 101.6
Nenagh Community Network
Newbridge Community Training Workshop
New Ross Centre for the Unemployed
Noreside Resource Centre
North Kerry Together Ltd.
Northside Partnership
N.T.D.I. Sandymount
N.T.D.I. Carlow
N.T.D.I. Cork
NUI Maynooth – Dept. of Adult & Comm. Education
Ogra Dún Dealgan
OPEN -One Parent Exchange Network
Park House Training
Partnership Trá Lí
Pavee Point
Portlaoise Community Information Centre
Project for Adult Guidance in Education
Regional Education Guidance
Ringsend Community Training Workshop
St. Catherine’s Training Centre
St. Colmcilles Training Workshop
St. Fiachra’s Training Centre
St. Mel’s Training Centre
St. Oliver’s Training Centre
St. Vincent’s Training Trust
S.A.O.L.
Shanganagh Castle Detention Centre
Shanty Education Project
SHS Training Centre
Siol Resource Centre
Sliabh Luachra ADM
Sligo LEADER Partnership
Sligo Young Enterprises
SIPTU Basic Education Service
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South East Mens’ Network
South Kerry LES
South Kerry Southside Partnership
South West Kerry Women’s Association
South West Wexford CDP
Southside Local Employment Service
Southside Partnership
SPRING
S.T.E.P.
Tallaght Centre for Unemployed
Tallaght Community Workshop
Tallaght Travellers Youth Service
Tallaght Welfare Society
Tara Consultants Ltd
Teagasc
Teachers’ Union of Ireland
Templeshannon Community Development Project
Tivoli Training Centre
Transform Alley, Kerry
Training Unit, Glengariff Parade
Training Workshop in Horticulture
Tuam CDP
Tuam Community Training Workshop
UCD – Education Department
UCD – Adult Education Centre
Vincention Partnership for Justice
Warrenmount Community Ed. & Dev. Centre
Waterford Youth Industries Ltd.
West Limerick Resources Ltd.
Wexford Area Partnership
Wexford County Partnership
Windmill Therapeutic Training
Women Together Tallaght Network
Youthreach, Arklow
Youthreach, Bray/N. Wicklow
Youthreach, Clondalkin
Youthreach, Dominick St.
Youthreach, Sligo
Youthreach, Tralee

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53
 An Áisíneacht Náisiúnta Litearthachta do Aosaigh

National Adult Literacy Agency

76 Lower Gardiner Street, Dublin 1
Telephone: 01 855 4332 Fax: 01 855 5475
email: literacy@nala.ie website: www.nala.ie.
Freephone support line: 1800 20 20 65

NALA Cork
c/o VTSU Building
Tramore Rd., Cork
Telephone: 021-4317011 Fax: 021-431 5054
e-mail: pfaceyhunter@nala.ie

NALA Mullingar
Education & Employment Centre
Austin Friar St.
Mullingar, Co Westmeath
Telephone: 044-42111 Fax: 044 45834
e-mail: mtoher@nala.ie

ISBN
1-871737-18-4