Across Europe, the challenge of low basic skills remains structural. According to the OECD’s Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), roughly one in four adults in Europe — around 54 million people — struggle with literacy or numeracy skills. Participation in adult learning remains uneven across countries and often fails to reach those who need it most. At the same time, digital transformation is accelerating, and the skills required to participate fully in society and the labour market are evolving rapidly.
This context raises an important question for adult education systems: how can innovation genuinely support learners, educators and institutions facing these challenges?
The Horizon project iRead4Skills offers an important example. Presented at the project’s final conference in Lisbon in February 2026, the initiative demonstrates how research, technology and educational practice can be brought together to support literacy development in adult education and vocational education and training (VET).
Rather than being simply a technological experiment, the project provides a model for responsible, ethical and transparent use of AI-based language technologies in adult education.
A structural challenge for Europe
The persistence of low basic skills across Europe is often linked to what researchers describe as the “low-skills trap”: a self-reinforcing cycle where low levels of skills lead to low-quality jobs, which in turn provide limited opportunities or incentives for further learning.
Breaking this cycle requires more than isolated interventions. It requires systemic responses.
Three developments are shaping the current landscape of adult education:
- persistent basic skills gaps across member states,
- the rapid emergence of digital and AI-supported learning technologies, and
- a shift in educational thinking from a deficit approach to an empowerment approach, recognising that adults engage in learning when it is relevant to their lives and goals.
Within this landscape, initiatives like iRead4Skills help translate European policy ambitions into practical tools that educators can use.
What is iRead4Skills?
Led by NOVA University Lisbon, the iRead4Skills project brings together universities, research institutes, technology developers and education partners from across Europe to develop intelligent tools that help educators analyse and adapt the complexity of written texts.
The project focuses on a very practical challenge: selecting reading materials that match learners’ literacy levels while still reflecting real-life situations.
The iRead4Skills system can analyse the linguistic complexity of texts, identify vocabulary and structural features that influence readability, and support the adaptation of materials for learners with lower literacy levels.
In practice, the iRead4Skills system uses advanced language processing technologies to:
- analyse the complexity of texts,
- support the simplification and adaptation of materials, and
- provide educators with guidance on selecting appropriate reading resources.
The tools are currently available in French, Portuguese and Spanish, with strong potential for transfer to other languages in the future. This multilingual approach reflects the diversity of European education systems and creates opportunities for broader adoption across Member States.
The system is accessible through several formats designed for everyday educational use, including:
- an online platform for text analysis,
- a mobile application, and
- an MS Word plug-in, which allows educators to analyse the complexity of texts directly while preparing learning materials.
These tools make it easier for educators to select or adapt reading materials that support comprehension and learner confidence.
Supporting teachers and learners
One of the key insights emerging from the project is that traditional teaching materials often fail to reflect the real-life reading situations adults face.
Adults rarely read simplified textbook dialogues. Instead, they need to understand:
- medical leaflets,
- contracts or rental agreements,
- service conditions,
- bills and financial documents,
- workplace instructions.
The project therefore emphasises the importance of context-based reading materials that reflect everyday life situations.
Importantly, the development and piloting of the tools involved adult educators, trainers and learners themselves. Their feedback played a central role in shaping the functionality and usability of the system. This participatory approach ensured that the technology responds to real teaching and learning needs rather than purely technical objectives.
At the same time, teachers and trainers need support to work effectively with these materials. The project emphasises the importance of professional development programmes that help educators use intelligent tools to analyse and adapt text complexity.
In this sense, iRead4Skills is not just about technology. It is about strengthening the professional capacity of adult educators. For teachers and trainers, this means having access to tools that support their professional judgement when selecting or adapting texts. For learners, it means encountering materials that are more accessible and relevant to their lives.
A model for responsible AI in adult education
As artificial intelligence increasingly enters the education sector, questions about transparency, ethics and trust become essential.
The iRead4Skills project demonstrates that AI tools can be developed in ways that are:
- transparent and understandable for educators,
- grounded in pedagogical needs,
- inclusive for learners with different literacy levels,
- developed through collaboration between researchers, technology developers and practitioners, and
- aligned with ethical principles, respect for copyrigth and intellectual property.
In this sense, the project provides valuable insights into how AI can be responsibly integrated into adult education and basic skills provision.
For the European Basic Skills Network (EBSN), this development model is particularly important. It demonstrates how innovation can connect policy ambitions, professional practice and real learner experiences, and it offers a useful reference for policymakers exploring how AI-based tools can support literacy and skills development in education systems.
Sustainability and future potential
A crucial question for policymakers is always what remains after a project ends.
Sustainability does not simply mean continuing funding. It means ensuring that knowledge, tools and approaches become embedded within educational systems.
The architecture of iRead4Skills offers strong potential in this regard. Its modular design allows adaptation to different languages and contexts, while its tools can be integrated into training programmes, teaching practices and digital learning environments.
Equally important is the project’s emphasis on collaboration between researchers and practitioners. Policymakers are encouraged to create conditions that support such collaboration, including recognition and incentives for educators who contribute to innovation projects.
From innovation to systemic change
The future of literacy and reading in Europe will depend on three key principles:
- Relevance – learning must connect to real-life needs.
- Accessibility – learning opportunities must be flexible and inclusive.
- Professionalisation – educators must be supported with high-quality tools and training.
The iRead4Skills project contributes to all three.
The next challenge is ensuring that innovations of this kind become systemic — not exceptional.
Zoltán Várkonyi
Secretary General
European Basic Skills Network
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