Organisation and Policy: Influencing Public Policy: Archive: LIFE Appendix 2
Partnerships and Strategic Planning for Lifelong Learning:
An Appendix to NIACE Cymru's response to LIFE
How can effective partnerships, and these involving schools and colleges, be established and sustained to promote lifelong learning?
1. LIFE argues that "partnerships need to share broad aspirations, reflect local accountability and above all, share a sense of urgency about the task ahead" This reaffirms the commitment, in "Building Excellent Schools Together" which recommended that "all those involved in education and training must share a common vision and work toward it" . In creating the learning society which is more than the sum of its parts, the task is to provide a more coherent framework to maximise opportunities while minimising confusion for learners and avoiding duplication and wasteful competition between providers.
Partnerships feature strongly in the New Deal, the National Grid for Learning, the Digital College and the University for Industry. Further and higher education institutions, TECs, local authorities and development agencies are all variously required to engage in consultation in planning their activities to take account of the remit of others, including employers and the voluntary sector. But many of these initiatives and programmes of work are failing to exploit the potential for synergy between them for the following reasons:
 | the initiatives emerge from different parts of the Welsh Office |
| there are overlapping components within different initiatives, funded by different agencies, so that the potential for synergy is hampered and, indeed, an integrated approach to tackling the same issues does not emerge; and |
| no clear roles and responsibilities are allocated with strategic partnerships |
For example, quality standards, basic skills and guidance feature prominently in several initiatives, but lack a vehicle for integration and consistency.
2. Coherence at the all Wales level
Given the scale of the challenge of Lifelong Learning, and the need for the coherent use of scarce resources, a National Learning Strategy must harness all the agencies likely to have resources or to be key players. Strategic direction is necessary to ensure regional and local delivery of the goals identified nationally, finely tuned to local needs and priorities, and backed by resources and an effective infrastructure. When formulating policy, the Welsh Office/National Assembly must adopt a more integrated approach through closer liaison between its committees to planning which can be reflected in the strategies and infrastructure for taking forward policy. This should include clear direction to agencies of the roles and responsibilities it expects them to assume, so that policy is taken forward effectively and coherently.
With the National Assembly there must be effective co-operation towards the goals of the learning society extending beyond education and training to social services, local government, the voluntary sector, economic development, and health and environment.
3. Regional Partnerships
1. Clear identification of roles and responsibilities will be crucial to enabling regional partnerships, which cross local authority boundaries, to develop the range of activities from which learners will benefit. As well as allowing an exchange of ideas and pooling of resources, such direction is needed for:
| effective needs identification |
| resource allocation |
| exchange of labour market information |
| coherence in the provision of information and guidance |
| a shared approach to curriculum development, and |
| links with broadcasters and European networks |
2. It is also important that, given the economic, education and social implications of the drive towards a lifelong learning culture, the agencies which feature in the "new economic powerhouse" are among the partners for lifelong learning at a regional level. This will ensure a strong economic dimension in regional planning, to reflect the changing needs of employers or of potential employers in the area. Regional bodies should ensure that regional plans address issues which cross local authority boundaries.
4. Local Partners
1. Through Local Development Plans, partnerships at local level will have a remit for contributing to the development and implementation of strategic planning through operational delivery and review: such partnerships should be secured as a condition of the release of public money. Clear guidance to partners is needed to ensure that co-operation at a local level replaces competitiveness between providers, and addresses gaps or duplication in provision. Partnership at local level is needed to plan the approach to:
| promotion and marketing |
| recruitment of learners |
| information and guidance |
| learner support |
| retention |
| programme design and delivery, and |
| assessment and progression |
5. The University for Industry
The University for Industry will be the catalyst to embrace local employers, trades unions and broadcasters in learning partnerships. Short term pressures and the real need for skills for industrial competitiveness in international markets, may lead the UFI to focus too narrowly on a skills based curriculum. Partnerships will need to work to hold the balance. It is essential that UFI has a brief to widen participation as well as to build skills in small and medium sized enterprises.
6. Advice and Support
NIACE Cymru is itself a uniquely cross-sectoral body with a long-standing commitment to encouraging partnerships at all levels in furthering the interests of adult learners. In "Gearing Up To Lifelong Learning : An Adequacy Manual for Local Authorities and their Partners" there are many suggestions for, and examples of, effective partnerships in Wales. We would hope that the lessons of this work would inform future development and that NIACE will have an opportunity to be involved.
7. Finally:
| partnerships at local and county level already formed need to review their remits |
| linkages need to be developed between all levels |
| there is a need for a bottom up and top down approach |
| partnerships should reflect participatory democracy and work towards the personal engagement of people and develop social cohesiveness first |
| partnerships should not only reflect a competitiveness-led agenda and the need for skills development, but should include the challenge or a wider remit of a learning society including liberal education approaches and citizenship |
| partnerships need to develop common agenda and realise the virtues of compromise |
| adult education should be part of social change and contribute to it |
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Related Links
| NIACE Cymru Response to LIFE |
| Appendix 1 |
| Appendix 3 |
