Plan to improve poor adult numeracy skills in North Yorkshire and York
A three-year proposal will be submitted to Government
A three-year plan to improve poor adult numeracy skills in North Yorkshire and York is to be submitted to government after winning the backing of councillors.
More than £3.3 million has been earmarked to provide free maths courses in the region which is one of the UK’s worst performing for numeracy.
The cash is coming from the government’s Shared Prosperity Fund which is a key part of its “levelling up” agenda and aims to help people secure jobs with increased skills.
Executive members on North Yorkshire County Council – which is working with City of York Council on the skills drive – today signalled their support for an investment plan which must now be submitted to the Department for Education by 30 June.
County council leader Carl Les described the project as a “hugely important piece of work”.
He told a meeting today: “I’m very pleased we have got this funding given that those of us who have had the benefit of a good education, and therefore are literate and numerate, should do whatever we can to support those who haven’t.”
Councillor Annabel Wilkinson, executive member for education and skills at the county council, also said the fund was targeted at adults aged over 19 who do not have any formal qualifications.
She said: “It is really for those people who are employed but would like to improve their maths skills.
“They could dip in and out of this funding by having 10 minute breaks to do work online so their employers are not affected by the training.”
North Yorkshire County Council was awarded £2.6 million from the fund, while City of York Council got £741,000.
The funding will be used for a new numeracy programme, Multiply, providing free personal tutoring and digital training, which Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove previously said would help spread opportunity to every part of the country.
He said the scheme would help to “unleash the creativity and talent of communities” that had been overlooked and undervalued.
A study by charity Pro Bono Economics last year found more than 60% of working age adults in both Yorkshire and the North East had low numeracy skills, making the areas among the three worst performing regions in the UK.
The charity previously said: “With the Covid crisis and its impacts on our economy evident and plans to level up the economy through the recovery becoming real, the need for a national debate on numeracy is now an urgent one.
“If all parts of society can get behind improving adult numeracy in the UK, the benefits would be manifold.
“For individuals, it would support them to find employment, earn higher wages and lead healthier lives.
“But it could also support the government’s efforts both to level up the whole of the country by increasing wages in the regions.”