PROGRAMME FOR THE INTERNATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF ADULT COMPETENCIES
In order to obtain a qualified labour force in the 21st Century and display the current situation in countries to overcome the encountered difficulties, Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) is being run by OECD Directorate for Education (EDU) and Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs (DELSA).
The overall goal of the programme is to facilitate the contribution of the labour force qualifications to the economy more efficiently and effectively.
The programme aims at adults between the ages of 16-65 and intends to research:
- 1. Educational positions,
- 2. Educational accumulations,
- 3. The use of this accumulation during the transition to work life,
- 4. And gather statistics on how the educational system responds to the necessities of socio-economic life and execute comparative studies.
The programme is basically run by organizing surveys and tests in various fields (which will be mentioned as surveys from now on) on citizens between the ages of 16 and 65 in participating countries. PIAAC programme is composed of a pilot study and a main study. The pilot study consists of 1500 surveys while the main study requires 5000 participants. Surveys will be performed on sample households and appointed interviewers will engage one person in each household. The surveys will include various tests among other questions and will measure and grade not only the background, formal trainings and qualifications of subjects but also the problem analysis abilities, literacy, numeracy and informal and informatic skills. The questions and tests used in the surveys have been arranged by an international consortium which OECD has outsourced for the programme. Each material will be translated to national languages in order to allow comparisons. Therefore an international report which measures and compares average education, skill and qualification trends among each countries citizen.
Only countries that comply with the standards and meet the requirements will be included in the final report. Each participating country is expected to choose a number of households which reflects the national average by standard sampling methods.
PIAAC is considered as the sequel of the PISA programme (Programme for International Student Assessment). Decision making body of the PIAAC programme is the Participating Countries Board.
22 OECD countries and 2 OECD partner countries, (Russia and Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus) participated in the first round of PIAAC (2008-2013). 6 OECD member countries and Singapore, Indonesia, Lithuania participated in the second round of PIAAC.
Turkey has participated the second round of PIAAC (2012-2016). This round report is published by OECD in 28th June 2016.