As their paper points out:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ability to read, write, count, and engage with technology is a critical foundation for meaningful work and active participation in the community. The commonly quoted research shows almost three million Australians lack basic literacy or numeracy skills, or both.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, it\u2019s not a tiny problem!<\/p>\n

In fact, \u201cfoundation skills are often considered to include language, literacy and numeracy and digital (LLND) skills, and depending on the situation, the definition can also extend to other employability and life skills such as collaboration, problem solving and teamwork.\u201d<\/p>\n

One suggestion is that the term \u2018foundation skills\u2019 might not be the best one to use as the skills may be traditionally seen in VET\u2019s lexicon as too basic rather than fundamental. Some ask whether enabling or \u2018core\u2019 skills or some other term might be better, especially if other significant life and employability skills are also covered under this umbrella.<\/p>\n

The paper then goes into providing definitions of the various terms, and this is helpful.<\/p>\n