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Adult learners in a brave new world

Lifelong learning policy and structural changes since 1997

This policy discussion paper reviews the many changes that have taken place since 1997, both in Government policy for adult learning and the structures that have been put in place to deliver those policies.

Since 1997, the Government has embarked on a series of reforms to raise the levels of skill, qualifications and general learning in the workforce and in the community at large. This paper seeks to start a debate about the key problems, desirable directions and promising patterns for adult learners that are emerging from the large-scale reform of the last few years.

Leisha Fullick reviews the genesis of the Learning and Skills Council in 2002, its key tasks and the challenges that it has faced in the first years of its inception. She explores its relationships with Government departments and with economic development strategies locally and looks at the creation of other key vehicles of Government policy, such as the Regional Development Agencies and the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit, and their impact on opportunities for adult learning. Within this context, the author looks at the likely impact of the recent Skills White Paper and The White Paper on the Future of Higher Education.

The paper raises a number of key issues for debate, in particular on the factors that need to be addressed to maintain the momentum for change, and on how greater coherence can be brought into the system.

Leisha Fullick is Pro Director (London) at the Institute of Education, University of London. She was a founding member of the Learning and Skills Council and is currently Vice President of the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education and Chair of the Waltham Forest Strategic Education Partnership Board.

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