Mathew Bishop, South Australia

Mathew Bishop began in the Adult Literacy Program at PAE Libraries in 2021, as one of the first participants in this program which began as part of a Council led Covid-19 recovery plan. Prior to joining the program, Mathew relied on family members to help him with everyday reading and writing tasks.

Attending every week, Mathew proved to be a keen learner and quickly picked up skills he had set as his goals.  As his confidence grew, Mathew started to read more independently and, more recently, he has been learning digital skills by using reading apps on iPads. As well as reinforcing his reading skills, this is assisting him to gain basic digital literacy understanding.

Mathew has now learnt how to navigate a library catalogue, an iPad and is gaining confidence using his mobile phone. As a result, he has become a more connected member of his community and a role model for other students as his successes are due to his consistent approach.

Able to see the growing importance of computers in his workplace and personal life, Mathew now wants to embrace digital technology. His workplace has several new machines that rely on computer technology and Mathew wants to be able to learn more about these machines, including to be able to program the software. A scholarship would enable him to participate in further courses.