It's rather reassuring to be asked to write an opinion piece for a website that is about ICT as a basic skill, in the same way that literacy and numeracy are classified as basic skills.

It's reassuring because I don't believe ICT should be included as a basic skill in the way that literacy and numeracy are basic skills.

This is also the view expressed in Wales where the National Basic Skills Strategy doesn't include ICT.

That's not to say that there shouldn't be a relatively short-term campaign to help people become competent with ICT, or that ICT shouldn't be used to help people master literacy and numeracy.

However, unlike literacy and numeracy campaigns, this campaign would be as much aimed at older people of every social class as at the educationally disadvantaged.

One simple way to quicken the pace of solving the 'problem' is to give every family a computer and a simple handbook to get them started. After all, that's the way most of us older adults mastered ICT skills.

No course necessary

We didn't go on a lengthy course but learned from simple books, from asking friends and colleagues and from playing about with a PC. However, I've yet to meet an adult who has mastered literacy using these methods.

If you ask head teachers in schools as I do, they will tell you as they have acknowledged for many years that some young people leave school with not very good literacy and/or numeracy skills.

However, if you ask whether a similar number of young people leave with poor ICT skills they look surprised at the question. They generally reply that the only young people that do are those with poor language and literacy skills.

	Almost all children and young people appear to be very comfortable with ICT...

I've visited almost 3,000 schools in the last five years throughout England and Wales. Almost all children and young people appear to be very comfortable with ICT, although this isn't the case, sadly, with literacy and numeracy.

Most seem comfortable with basic word processing and are happily using spreadsheets and other programs by the end of primary school. I can't remember seeing even a young child that doesn't know how to use the keyboard.

Literacy's the key

If children do struggle with ICT it's not the technology and technology skills that are the problem but their language, reading and spelling skills.

Whereas most adults who lack ICT skills didn't have the opportunity to develop those skills during their eleven years or so of compulsory schooling, this isn't the case with adults who have problems with literacy and numeracy skills.

Few didn't attend school ever and almost all were taught literacy and numeracy skills during their school days, however poorly.

They didn't lack opportunity to learn; in one sense it was just that the opportunity was not necessarily of good quality and their difficulties were often compounded by social and economic problems outside of school.

The link between poor literacy and numeracy and social class is high. Across all age groups it tends to be working class families that form the poor basic skills group.

There might be a link between poor ICT skills and social class, but it's more likely to be a link based on access to ICT rather than other socio-economic factors.