844,000 Swiss have poor reading and maths skills

844',000 people in Switzerland have poor reading and maths skills Keystone-SDA

Some 15% of the Swiss population between the ages of 16 and 65 have difficulty reading, calculating and solving problems without instructions.

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That’s around 844,000 people. They tend to earn less and are less likely to be employed than the population as a whole.

+ Swiss education system explained

In addition, their well-being and participation in social life are lower than those with higher skills, as the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) announced on Thursday based on the OECD evaluation of adult skills (Piaac).

Of adults with low skills, 46% have no post-compulsory education – 56% of them aged between 46 and 65. At 7%, their unemployment rate was higher than that of the population as a whole (2%).

+ Swiss industry faces record shortage of skilled workers

According to the FSO, the lack of skills development could have a socio-economic and family background. Only 12% of these people’s parents had higher educational qualifications compared to 34% of the population as a whole.

Translated from German by DeepL/mga

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