Spell bound

Please read this carefully - because you can. For many thousands of Aucklanders, born here or recent arrivals, it will be a struggle. Adults who have difficulties with reading, writing or 'rithmetic need help - and helping them would be a massive boost to our region and our economy. Rowena Orejana reports.
Terrene Gibson has always struggled with reading and writing. Ordinary chores became huge tasks that she tried to avoid: reading school notices; finding people in phone books; worst, filling out forms. She avoided forms at all costs.
"When I first arrived in Auckland, they asked me for my address. I didn't know how to spell Titirangi, I didn't know how to spell Auckland. I didn't know how to spell my address. It was devastating,'' she remembers.
Almost half a million adult Aucklanders have low literacy and numeracy. Many, like Ms
Gibson, construct their lives so they do not have anything to do with reading or writing.
Her life was difficult. "I had a rough upbringing. When I went to school, school was a safe place for me. And that doesn't happen for most people with literacy problems,'' she explains. "But I had so much going on in my personal life that schooling was too overwhelming. I couldn't learn. I was too busy surviving,'' she relates.
Bernardine Vester, chief executive of the City of Manukau Education Trust, says adult
literacy is a major problem in Auckland. A study by her and strategic analyst Alison Sutton found 478,900 Aucklanders have trouble reading and 410,000 struggle with tasks that
involve numbers. The paper, entitled Unlocking Auckland's potential: adult literacy and numeracy skills in the new Auckland, found 65 per cent of adults in Counties-Manukau and 59 per cent of adults in Waitakere have low numeracy.
Ms Vester says this is alarming. "If Auckland is going to be an economic powerhouse in New Zealand, then the potential of its people should be tapped.''
The problem is manifold. More than 2000 students leave school without qualifications,
adding yearly to the growth in illiteracy. As well, migrants who lack proficiency in the
English language are pouring into the city.
Kwok Fong is one of the thousands of migrants who have settled in Auckland. Mr Fong
was a senior engineer in Hong Kong, supervising a number of people. Here, aged 53, he works as an air conditioning technician.
After work, he goes to English Language Partners in Papatoetoe to improve his English. "I can't speak very well. Some of the guys say, 'What, what are you talking about?' Also, my pronunciation is not very accurate,'' says Mr Fong, who believes his lack of proficiency in the language has been hampering his efforts to find a better job.
"I just want to bring in enough for my family. We don't think about earning more money.
Enough is okay. Right now, not enough, because I have three kids.''
Ms Sutton says Mr Fong's case is pretty straightforward. "A lot of them may have been
educated in their own language and they just want to learn English.
"But people who are New Zealand-born are often alienated in school. They've barely got much confidence about learning because they've been unsuccessful in school in the first place,'' she says.
These people are harder to find because they are too embarrassed to put themselves
forward.
Jane Gilmour, manager of Waitakere Adult Literacy, says there are a lot of people who
desperately need help. "But you can only help those who want to be helped. You can't say, 'We have a course here, come','' she says.
"The reality is a lot of these people are living in poverty. They are so busy working in
their low-paying jobs, they can't find time to improve, they can't help their family improve. The cycle just continues.''
The NZ Income Survey of June 2009 showed just gaining an NCEA level 2 qualification would increase a person's average weekly income by $55.
Ms Vester says Auckland needs a strong policy on learning. "Skills improvement will need to feature in the Auckland Plan. It will really be important that the city offers leadership in improving literacy and numeracy,'' she says. "It is no pathway out of poverty to be made to go back to a low-paid, insecure job and be locked there for the rest of your life.''
The central government invests $4 billion dollars in education in Auckland annually. Literacy and numeracy have been given prominence in the Tertiary Education Strategy 2010-2015.
The second priority in the forthcoming Auckland Plan is  improving Aucklanders' skills, education and learning.
Auckland Economic Development Forum chair, Arthur Anae, says there is a commitment from the council to ensure the region's manpower is educated to do their jobs.
"It will look at every opportunity it can to help,'' he says. But he con
tinues, "We are not a bank with a bottomless pit. We have to work within our budget.''
The problem, though, is quite tricky to solve. While it needs central and local government action, it also needs the community's effort.
"Everybody has a part to play. There's no one solution,'' says Ms Sutton.
Ms Vester adds, "We are not working together enough to make the most of who we've got.''
She is calling for specific action on improving numeracy in particular as this affects the wealth of ordinary Aucklanders.
A forum on May 11 will include Auckland's thinkers on education and representatives from education, business and philanthropists.
Closer to those in need, Ms Sutton says ways to encourage people with reading difficulties should be examined.
"There are a lot of service providers. But you won't see a high waiting list, either. You've got to go out and find people in places where they already go,'' she says. "Maybe put it alongside social services. Put it alongside families. Put it alongside work places. You have to find the ways of approaching them in a safe way so that people would come forward.''
She says families should be helped. Research shows children are more likely to be low in literacy if their mothers are low in literacy.
Two years ago, Ms Gibson, a mother of two, finally found the courage to enrol in the
Waitakere Adult Literacy programme.
"I needed to know if I was teachable. I needed to know that I wasn't dumb,'' she says.
What she discovered is that she is clever in a lot of things. "Just because I didn't read and write doesn't mean I'm dumb,'' she says. "I was encouraged to understand what I was good at. They've given me the opportunity to share my knowledge.''
Ms Gibson is now a student representative on the organisation's governing committee. She volunteers her time there teaching cooking. She is still happily improving her skills and her confidence.
"As an adult, you can still learn. I think it is scarier to stay where you are. The initial fear of finding help is really small compared to the self-esteem you'll gain.''
Education in the city
A snapshot in 2009:
708,100 people in the Auckland
workforce
478,900 adult Aucklanders of low
literacy
410,000 of low numeracy
63 per cent of people with low literacy
work mostly in low-skill jobs
70 per cent of people with low literacy
are Pasifika or Asian
Of 17,245 school-leavers, 75.5 per cent
gained NCEA level 2 or above in 2009
2840 left school without a qualification
- almost equal to the number of
students at Rangitoto College
Source: City of Manukau Education Trust
They're here to help
Literacy Aotearoa is a national organisation that delivers a wide range of programmes. The services are free to the learner, can be in group or one-to-one settings, and are confidential. People might learn about filling in forms, improving spelling, preparing for a driving test, writing assignments or putting together a CV, as well as literacy.
Tutors usually are community volunteers. Auckland branches are in Franklin, Freemans Bay, Glen Innes, He Waka Matauranga in Mt Eden, North Shore, Waiheke and Waitakere.
More info: www.literacy.org.nz
COMET (the City of Manukau Educational Trust) was established by the former Manukau City Council and is now a CCO of the Auckland Council. It provides leadership and coordination services for education in Counties-Manukau. It is supported by the Manukau Institute of Technology, which provides computers linked to MIT's network.
More info: Ph 968 8773, www.comet.org.nz