MORE than 4,000 Bermuda households will receive visits over the next five months from interviewers testing for adults' reading ability and 'life skills'.

The Statistics Department revealed yesterday that Bermuda was to conduct its first Adult Literacy and Life-Skills Survey and that more than 100 people had been trained as interviewers.

Letters have been mailed this week to households selected for the survey. Interviewers will select one person from each home to be interviewed and householders will be asked to keep their dogs under control.

Chief statistician Valerie Robinson-James said: "This is an extensive survey and we want to notify the households that have been selected and give them sufficient time to prepare for the visit of the interviewers. We are confident that we can rely on their co-operation to accomplish the survey."

For the survey's purposes, literacy is defined as the ability to understand and use printed information in daily activities to achieve one's goals and develop one's potential. Life skills are abilities that people need to succeed in life within the context of their socio-economic environments.

The survey will run from March until the end of July and is part of an international operation to measure the level of literacy skills.

It is being carried out in conjunction with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the US National Centre for Educational Statistics and Statistics Canada.

Other countries taking part are Canada, Italy, Norway, South Korea, Switzerland and the US.