ESOL and Community Cohesion
A NIACE Response to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills’ Consultation
Published: April 2008
|
NIACE broadly welcomes the proposals set out in the consultation document Focusing English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) on Community Cohesion, supporting its intent and the overarching approaches proposed.
Particularly welcome are the:
 | intention to prioritise access to state funded ESOL for the most excluded adults |
| rediscovery of the importance of learning for wider social and community benefits |
| recognition of the importance of outreach work |
| recognition of the role of the voluntary sector |
| references to volunteering |
| value placed on local planning of ESOL to allow effective responses to local circumstances. |
NIACE believes, however that a number of aspects of the paper need to be addressed in more detail or revised to ensure that the government is able to realise its intentions. Such matters include:
| a sharper definition that recognises the complexities of the concept of community cohesion is needed |
| the role of ESOL as only one factor in the promotion of community cohesion needs to be explained in more depth |
| the absence of recognition of the inter-relationship between learning for work and skills and learning for community and of the importance of work place provision in community cohesion |
| the encouragement and promotion of cross-government working |
| those missing from the priority groups, in particular low paid workers and recently arrived spouses who are not eligible for state funded provision |
| the failure to address the question of ESOL for offenders serving sentences in the community. |
| some of the practicalities of applying the criteria |
| the mechanisms for resolving tensions where there might be a mismatch between Local Authority-led plans and LSC targets |
| outreach work practice |
| securing employer buy in |
| a number of funding issues including the overall budget allocated to ESOL and contributions from other government departments. |
NIACE believes that everyone who comes to live in the UK should have a right to learn English as they need it to live, work and thrive, however long they stay and however wealthy they are. There must be sufficient provision to allow them to do so. This inevitably raises the questions of “Who gets it free? Who pays and how much? What type of provision is offered and by whom?” The consultation paper makes a thoughtful start in addressing these questions and we look forward to seeing a more in-depth consideration following this consultation.
Read the consultation document here
