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Latest News: December 2003
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Employer Training Pilots
In his Pre-Budget Statement to the House of Commons in early December 2003, Gordon Brown drew attention to the need for higher investment in workforce training – especially for the one-third of the labour force with the fewest recognised skills.
One of the key measures that the Government is taking to improve access to training is its programme of Employer Training Pilots (ETPs). Working closely with employers, these are testing out different ways of supporting lower-skilled people in work with the chance to gain basic skills or their first level 2 qualification.
Derbyshire was location of one of the pioneering ETPs in 2001 and it was joined the following year by a pilot in Leicestershire. Now that the Chancellor has announced the extension of ETPs for a third year, and intends to launch new pilots in six more areas, this NIACE seminar will provide a timely opportunity to look in depth at how ETPs have worked in the East Midlands region and to see what lessons can be learned. It will bring together participants with practical knowledge of ETP operations; those with a national perspective as researchers and managers and those who simply want to know more to anticipate the shape of things to come.
ETPs are a cornerstone of Government policy for workforce development and independent evaluations suggest that they are proving remarkably effective in bringing learning into more and different workplaces and reaching in helping more and different learners develop their skills. As such, they will exert a strong influence upon the development of the whole further education sector as it becomes more flexible and more responsive to need.
Click here for further details of NIACE’s conference on ETPs in the East Midlands on 22 January 2004 in Leicester,
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New website for Black practitioners and Learners
On Tuesday 16 December 2003 NIACE launched a brand new website , www.niace.org.uk/bpln, which will be of interest to black learners and practitioners, practitioners generally who work with black adults and anyone who is interested in challenging racism and promoting cultural diversity.
The site has been developed through support from the Local Government Association (LGA) and is a partnership initiative between the Black Practitioners and Learners Network (BPLN) and NIACE.
It will be a place to find out about major developments in the field of adult education, engage in debate and discussion with like-minded people, peruse news and features items and find out about best practice.
The site aims to:
 | Inform. |
| Support in the further development of skills, knowledge and good practice. |
| Encourage debate and discussion. |
| be Interactive, dynamic and responsive (through the community forums). |
| Share information. |
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Ensuring quality for adults with mental health difficulties
In 1996 the Tomlinson Report concluded that provision in adult and further education for people with mental health difficulties was patchy in quantity and quality. While it appears that in 2003 there is improved access and more learning opportunities for people with mental health difficulties, there is much anecdotal evidence from practitioners that they still feel isolated in the work that they do and sometimes unsure of how to ensure the quality of the provision that they offer.
This conference is being held following May’s successful launch of the publication 'Learning Journeys': a handbook for tutors and managers in adult education working with people with mental health difficulties. Delegates will each receive a free copy of 'Learning Journeys'.
The conference will be of interest to new and experienced tutors working with learners with mental health difficulties; managers of learning provision that includes learners with mental health difficulties; staff responsible for Disability Discrimination Act compliance; adult, community and other education providers who wish to set up provision for people with mental health difficulties.
| Click here for a booking form or form contact Gurjit Kaur on Tel: 0116 204 2833; Email: Gurjit.kaur@niace.org.uk |
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Tories’ plan for vocational education
Skills learning would be introduced into schools from the age of 13, with pupils divided between technical and academic education, under Tory plans. Damian Green, Conservative Shadow Education Secretary, also promised to improve learning opportunities for adults, tackling ‘the decline in adult and community learning’ and ‘ensuring that the funding system recognises it as a priority’. Unveiling Unskilled Labour, the Tories’ policy report, Mr Green called ‘the lack of technical skills’ in the UK ‘the biggest long-term education handicap the country faces’. The Conservatives, he said, would concentrate on non-degree qualifications, rather than on widening access to higher education. ‘Not only would this transform our poor performance on competitiveness, it will enhance the chances in life of those whose abilities are practical rather than academic,’ he said. Tory plans would include allowing access to vocational studies from the age of 13 and the creation of specialist technical schools, probably backed by business. Source: Adults Learning
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Home loan help for FE lecturers
The Government’s announcement of interest-free home loans for teachers in London and the South East will be more valuable to college lecturers than to school teachers, according to the Association of Colleges. Along with schoolteachers, college lecturers will be eligible to receive an interest-free loan of at least 25 per cent of the value of a property up to £50,000. It is the first time further education lecturers have been included in the Government’s key worker initiative. Ivor Jones, the AoC’s Director of Employment Policy, said: ‘Local college lecturers have up to now been specifically excluded from Government help with housing. Yet lecturer vacancies in colleges, which educate 50 per cent more 16 to 19-year-olds than do schools, are running at twice the rate of schools. Staff turnover is also much higher, for example, management vacancies last year were up to 44 per cent on 2002. Retaining the ban on lecturer eligibility was unsustainable. This is a very welcome move forward.’ Source: Adults Learning
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National Centre for Languages launched
Sir Trevor McDonald has formally launched the new National Centre for Languages. The Centre, which is based in London, is the result of the merger of the Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research with the Languages National Training Organisation. It will work with educators, employers and the wider community to promote a greater national capability in languages. Sir Trevor, who chaired the Nuffield inquiry into the decline of foreign language learning in Britain and has agreed to act as Patron of the new Centre, said: ‘As a nation which relies excessively on its competence in one global language, we face enormous challenges in developing the language and cultural skills which our citizens will need to operate successfully in the globalised world of the 21st Century.’ The centre will be known as CILT, the National Centre for Languages. Source: Adults Learning
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‘Buddies work best’
Offering a new work-based trainee a ‘buddy’ or mentor makes it more likely that the new learner will gain their qualification, according to an Adult Learning Inspectorate report. Successful Learning and Work, which draws on the findings of ALI inspections since 2001 in considering effective methods of guiding people through work-based learning, found that mentoring could make a big difference in determining whether a young trainee fulfils their qualification or gives up at an early stage. Without good quality learning, trainees can become demotivated, the report says. Philip Hatton, the author of the report, said he hoped that all learning providers would use the report as ‘a tool to improve their own training methods’ and to address the problem of poor retention. The report is available on the ALI website: www.ali.gov.uk. Source: Adults Learning
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Mental illness on increase among students
Mental health problems among students are such that dedicated mental-health
services are needed in some areas, according to a report by the Royal College of
Psychiatrists.
The RCP report, The Mental Health of Students in Higher Education, says that NHS
services are often inadequate for students and calls for dedicated mental health
provision for students where the size and need of the student population
warrants it. In recent years, there has been a progressive increase in the
number of students presenting to college counselling services, with one in four
students suffering some kind of mental health problem during their time in
higher education. The report suggests that stress caused by the emotional
demands of transition from home and financial pressures may be contributing
factors. Source:
Adults Learning
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Lib Dems call for £2,000 grants
Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy has urged maintenance grants of up to £2,000 for poor students. In a speech at the London School of Economics, Mr Kennedy berated the ‘miserly’ £1,000 grants offered by the Government, adding that his party would pay for the abolition of tuition fees by introducing a 50 per cent rate of tax on earnings over £100,000. ‘Ministers say they want to widen participation. But their student funding policies are clearly undermining that aim,’ he said. Source: Adults Learning
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