Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC)

Published on Tuesday, 06 December 2011 00:34

PIACC is a response to a growing interest in the abilities of adults. It is generally accepted that knowledge and ability rather than level of formal education are necessary for economic development. For this reason, methods are sought to improve the quality of education and training. In the last few years there have been great leaps forward in the discovery of methods to measure ability.

The innovation integral in the PIACC study is the testing of ability rather than the level of formal education. Ability and experience are far more important than diplomas gained many years earlier. Thanks to the results of PIAAC we will gain insights into the real effectiveness of the education systems of the world. The goal of the study is to reach conclusions about the average level of ability and its variation in every country and not to measure the ability of isolated individuals chosen at random for study.