While it is useful for RTOs to find out about the language, literacy and numeracy skills of learners, language, literacy and numeracy testing of all learners is not mandatory under the AQTF. Element 2.5 of the Essential Conditions and Standards for Registered Training Organisations (initial registration and continuing registration) requires you to have a clear process and mechanism in place.
This could look like:
- providing clear information prior to enrolment about provision for language, literacy and numeracy assessment and
- asking the learners to complete a formal assessment of their LLN.
It remains that each RTO has the freedom to determine how, and to whom, this assessment is provided based on factors such as their scale of operations, scope of registration and client profile.
Suggested mechanisms could include:
Pre-course interview forms and questionnaires
RPL self-assessment forms
Enrolment forms with questions that identify support needs
Credit transfer forms
LLN assessment tools.
Formal language, literacy and numeracy assessments can provide you with reliable information if they are culturally appropriate, unbiased, relevant to the context and specific to the training and assessment methodologies used. It is recommended that they should be designed and administered by people skilled in their use including trainers and experts in LLN. However, given the time and expertise required, such assessments can seem to be costly.
You could get a general sense about which clients are likely to need language, literacy and numeracy support, and in which training programs this is required. The following may help your informed guesswork.
Experienced trainers will know from previous experience which parts of the course students may struggle with, and what specific skills are needed.
Students from certain social or cultural backgrounds may be more likely to need support.
Some students may indicate their need before or during the enrolment process.
Some students will ask for support during training or assessment.
Some courses make particularly heavy demands on reading, comprehension or maths skills thus indicating a need for pre-testing and ongoing support.
Pre-Enrolment questions could look like:
Have you got any questions about what we will be doing?
Can you remember when you had to learn something new? How did you go about it? What helped you learn?
Are there any issues which might make it difficult for you to come to a workplace class?
Are there any other issues that you think we should know about?
How do you feel about participating in training? Have you been part of a group learning situation before
(or have you ever worked in a self-paced programme before or have you worked with a mentor before)?
You must remember that it takes time to collect good LLN information for your industry area and to consider the impact of that information on your training. It is time well spent. It will improve the quality of training for your students significantly and will put you and your colleagues in a position to begin to meet your AQTF LLN obligations.
For some students there maybe government assistance – refer to this link
For any further questions about your RTO contact service@F4Solutions.net