Governments and other stakeholders are increasingly interested
in assessing the skills of their adult populations in order to
monitor how well prepared they are for the challenges of the
modern knowledge-based society. Adults are expected to use
information in complex ways and to maintain and enhance their
literacy skills to adopt to ever changing technologies. Literacy
is important not only for personal development, but also for
positive educational, social and economic outcomes. On an
international level, there are three adult literacy surveys, the
Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey (ALL), the International
Adult Literacy Survey (IALS), and the OECD’s Programme for the
International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) which is
currently in progress. Data from ALL and IALS reveal that low
skills are found in countries and that these low skills pose
problems for individuals trying to cope with work and life in
modern societies where the demands for literacy skills are on
the increase. The Programme for