Organisation and Policy: Influencing Public Policy: Archive
New National Targets - Learning Participation
| Fast Forward for Skills is a report by the National
Advisory Council for Education and Training Targets, published in October 1998. It is
available (reference NTET20) from NACETT, 7th floor, 222 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1X 8HL.
Fax: 020 7211 4540. The following document is adapted from correspondence and outlines NIACE's response |
1. NIACE warmly welcomes the proposal that a broad Learning Participation Target should be aimed at. We have argued the case for such a target consistently through the 1990s. We believe the broad target should be chosen since The Learning Age points clearly to the need for a learning society. Much of people’s learning will be supported by education and training, but NIACE’s surveys show consistently that there is a significant volume of structured informal learning. With the growth of resourced based learning the boundaries between the formal and informal is likely to blur further. We think the broadest, most inclusive measure will best capture cultural change in relation to learning. We accept that for practical purposes the National Adult Learning Survey (NALS) questions, suitably adapted to take account of learning undertaken in family and community settings could provide the broad definition of participation necessary for a headline figure. We would be happy to help in the framing of additional questions. However, if NALS is to be used we believe one significant change is needed. Currently the cut-off point of the NALS survey is 69 years - which excludes a significant cohort of older people in the UK. The 1996 NIACE/Gallup survey does include the whole population and NIACE recommends that if NALS is used as the core measure of participation its reach is extended to cover the full age range. This is, we believe, consistent with the Better Government for Older People’ strategy.
2. An interesting and significant difference between the findings of the NIACE/Gallup and NALS surveys seemed to derive from the methodologies applied. The NIACE/Gallup survey included questions about participation in learning in a general omnibus survey whilst NALS used hour-long home based interviews. The NALS survey registered significantly higher levels of participation, overwhelmingly concentrated on very short periods (less than 10 hours) of work-based training or structured learning. We believe both sets of data are of use - the NALS survey tells us how much learning is going on; the NIACE surveys tell us how many people see themselves as active, or recent learners (a precondition, perhaps, for confident future participation).
3. We are encouraged by the proposal in the letter that the NALS participation questions could be replicated in ONS surveys on an annual basis. Until now, NIACE has planned to continue with its sequence of surveys, because our relatively simple question structure was easily accessible to local agencies wishing to undertake local surveys to benchmark local participation against national figures. The ONS milestone surveys would need to be statistically robust when broken down by regions (and for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), and available to Regional Development Agencies. If this strategy is adopted, NIACE will review its research policy to ensure that any future survey work is harmonised as closely as possible with the NALS framework, and that it focuses on groups not adequately caught in national surveys (eg. people with specific disabilities, second language speakers….).
4. On the questions asked in the paper NIACE believes that data is needed nationally, regionally and more locally. Government funded survey data should establish national and regional participation levels. Local authorities and TECs will need to undertake local area studies to ensure that widening participation goals are being effectively pursued in their spheres of responsibility. A number of authorities have undertaken such studies before.
5. We do not understand the caution in setting challenging aspirational goals. Since a key message of The Learning Age is that responsibility for creating a learning society lies with individuals, communities and employers as well as with the state it is important to set demanding targets early, and to explain that whilst some government measures are unlikely to have a significant impact until 2000 or 2002, there are things everyone can do to change the culture now.
Page last updated June, 1999