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Latest News: December 2004

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High Level Committee Of Enquiry Into The State Of Adult Learning In Further Education Launched

A Committee of Enquiry into the current state of Further Education in England will commence work in January 2005. Led by NIACE, the focus of the Committee's work will be to examine the effects of current funding strategies and the level of commitment to adult learning in Further Education.

The NIACE Committee of Enquiry will be chaired by Chris Hughes – retiring Chief Officer of the Learning and Skills Development Agency. Its members will include David Sherlock, Chief Inspector of the Adult Learning Inspectorate, and Paul Mackney, General Secretary of the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE). It will commission research and seek evidence about the longer term implications of current national strategies. Colleges, students and employers will be invited to assist in this important work.

Chris Hughes said:

 “This enquiry is very timely. The LSC talks of transforming further education. Sir Andrew Foster is leading an independent review of colleges. Clearer priorities are being set for the sector and the rebalancing of public and private finance is high on the agenda. But what, meanwhile, is actually happening to adult learners in further education? Do we have a vision for the future of college based adult learning?”

Colin Flint, NIACE's Associate Director (Further Education), said:

“80% of the student population in further education are adults and there is increasing pressure in much of the provision for those adults in colleges. We support Government policy on the 14 - 19 agenda, Skills for Life and the Skills Strategy, but we want to identify and highlight what we fear are unforeseen and potentially damaging consequences. We believe that social inclusion and widening participation are as important as skills development.”

Further details of the Committee of Enquiry - including terms of reference and the full membership of the committee – will be available on the NIACE website, in early 2005.

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NIACE Response To BBC Restructuring Announcement

Following the news announced on 7th December of the restructuring plans at the BBC, the Director of the NIACE, Alan Tuckett, has said:

“Since the 1920’s the BBC has centred its public service broadcasting offer upon a capacity to educate, inform and entertain. NIACE has argued, through the current charter renewal debate, that broadcasting has a central role in stimulating demand for learning and that this benefits both the economy and social cohesion.”

“Currently approximately 1% of the BBC’s budget goes towards formal adult learning. NIACE argues that this should rise to 2.5 %”

“We are shocked to hear that the BBC’s organisational capacity in this field is to be weakened and we call on Mark Thompson to address this.”

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You do the Maths for your Christmas Shopping

With the average cost of Christmas this year running to £813 per person, there has never been a better time to brush up your maths skills to help keep your Christmas spending in check. Budgeting for presents, buying the weekly shop at the supermarket or knowing how much ‘one third off’ means in pounds during the sales are all tasks which millions of adults in England struggle with on a daily basis. And that’s why maths is a vital part of every day life says the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) in its You do the Maths campaign.

Susan Pember, Director of the government’s Adult Basic Skills Strategy Unit, said:

 “Millions of adults experience difficulties with everyday maths and many do not realise the benefits that people can see from improving their skills. We welcome the work that NIACE is doing to recognise the importance of maths in everyday life. It’s time now to really break the myth that it’s okay to be bad at maths.”

Toby Walker, Programme Co-ordinator at NIACE added:

 “To a lot of adults, maths must seem boring, pointless or scary and this is certainly how many adults remember maths from school. But in reality, maths plays a huge part in every day life. There are free maths courses available all over the country. All you need to do is ring learndirect on 0800 100 900 for more information. Or just call in to your local adult education centre. Whatever you remember about maths from your days at school, a free course could be a lot more interesting and rewarding than you think.”

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Family Learning: Building All Our Futures - New Policy Paper From NIACE

Involving parents actively in their children’s education not only helps to tackle the social exclusion of under-achievement, truancy and anti-social behaviour but also offers parents much for themselves according to a new policy paper, Family Learning: building all our futures, published by NIACE.

Family Learning: building all our futures by Margaret Lochrie argues the case for the universal provision of family learning and recommends the adoption of an intergenerational model of learning which could transform the lives of individuals of all ages and across the whole of society.

Margaret Lochrie, author of the new policy paper, said:

“The report considers research which suggests that family learning not only benefits children, but may make a significant contribution to the lives of adults - confident parenting, literacy, language and numeracy, combating educational inequality, poverty and social exclusion. There is a compelling case, therefore for making family learning accessible to all families, in the same way as ante-natal or primary health care. To achieve this would require additional public funding, but the benefits would more than justify the expenditure.”

Jeanne Haggart, Family Learning Development Officer at NIACE, said:

“It is more important than ever that we have a broad and integrated notion of family learning that can help to drive forward the children and family agenda. This publication helps us to imagine what it would look like, and also what we need to do, working together, to unlock its potential.”

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Voluntary and Community Sector contacts in local LSCs

Working Together: A strategy for the Voluntary and Community Sector and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) recommended that each local LSC identify a member of staff as contact point or first port of call for the voluntary and community sector (VCS) in the area. The list of contacts is now on the LSC website. 

Click here to view the list of Local LSC contacts for the VCS.

Through these contacts the LSC hopes to enhance two-way communication between local offices and sector organisations (particularly any who may have felt out of the loop before), as well as coordinate local activity to implement the Strategy, within its own offices and beyond. Local LSC and VCS colleagues who helped to define the role of the local contacts felt it important, for arrangements to work effectively, to be equally clear about what is outside the local contacts’ remit: in particular they are not there to take sole responsibility for all relations between the LSC and the sector in their area, or to provide a guarantee of LSC funding or advice on alternative sources.

Many names on the list will already be familiar to VCS organisations, and all the contacts will be looking for opportunities in the next few months to explain and promote their role.

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Getting There and Back Again

NIACE conference examines impact transport has on learners

Adults with learning difficulties and/or disabilities across the country are facing barriers to learning because of a lack of adequate transport provision according to NIACE.

Through a recent scoping study, NIACE has discovered that courses have been cancelled after a few weeks because people weren’t able to turn up to venues and other learning activities have been disrupted because learners were forced to arrive late or leave early to suit transport providers. A NIACE conference, Getting There and Back Again - funded by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) - will provide a forum to discuss transport issues and to explore some of the developments that have enabled learners to use the most appropriate forms of transport for them in cost effective ways.

Christine Nightingale, Development Officer for Inclusive Learning, at NIACE, said:

“It is not that people are unwilling to take up courses, in fact it is quite the opposite. The enthusiasm for learning is there. People with learning difficulties and/or disabilities often find that learning is the first step towards feeling more confident and living a less isolated existence. To put it bluntly, for lots of people, transport difficulties are damaging their aspirations.”

She continued:

 “This conference will enable people to exchange information and provide the opportunity to explore some of the innovative methods that have been implemented to overcome transport difficulties. We will be producing guidelines to good practice for the DfES and other policy makers to show what can be - and is being – achieved and how any problems can be more easily solved.”

The conference will be held at Aston University in Birmingham on the 14th December. Anyone who would like to contribute to the consultation and tell NIACE about their experiences obtaining transport as a learner, teacher, training manager or transport organiser please visit our consultation page.

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Competition Reaches out to More and Different Adult Artists

An arts competition run by the V&A Museum in London and the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) - organisers of the largest celebration of adult learning in the UK - has been extended for the first time to include museums in Manchester and in Tyne and Wear.

Inspired by...the V&A Collections, was first established in 1997 and is open to part-time adult learners who are invited to make works of art inspired by the museum’s collections. A selection of these is exhibited at the V&A each year during and beyond Adult Learners' Week in May.

The V&A is now collaborating with Manchester Art Gallery and Tyne and Wear Museums to organise the annual, Inspired by... competition regionally, and your work of art could be one of the new exhibits on view.

Laura Elliot, from the V&A Museum, said:

“Inspired by… actively promotes the relationship between adult learners and museums like the V&A, that results in a positive exchange of benefits. All you need to do is visit one of the museums participating in the scheme, decide on an exhibit you find particularly inspirational, then create a piece of work based on it.”

Anyone wishing to take part in the competition should contact one of the advisers below for details of how to enter. All entries should be sent no later than 18 February 2005.

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