This is an old page so some of the links may no longer work!

Latest News: March 2002

Closer to Learning - fostering the social inclusion of young adults

Two cheers for the Green Paper "14-19: Extending Opportunities, Raising Standards". It marks a serious attempt to raise the esteem of vocational pathways which in the UK have for too long been disregarded as sufficiently demanding and valid routes to 'employability and responsible citizenship'. Many commentators believe that our society's preference for the academic at the expense of the vocational has held the economy back, and we have consequently not grasped the opportunities for growth and development opened up by technological innovation.

The main reforms proposed in the Green Paper are:

So what does the Young Adult Learners Partnership (YALP) think about this? We raise two cheers. One because Estelle Morris recognises how important it is to raise the credibility of the vocational route in everybody's eyes. There might now be some greater incentive for the less academically-directed to stay in learning for after 14. Two because the proposed matriculation diploma might well cover participation (and, one presumes, achievement) in wider activities outside school and college. As an aside, we must register our surprise at the re-emergence of the term 'matriculation'. Some civil servant seems to have dug deep into the archive to come up with something that resonates with provision made for the same age cohort three generations ago - hardly the stuff of a modern education system.

A third cheer would have been raised had the paper more fulsomely acknowledged that learning and achievement can be secured in other ways than through formal institutions. Interestingly, the paper proposes that 14-19 education should be delivered through "integrated and innovative networks of collaborative providers achieving ambitious new goals". For many young people, school and college may not be appropriate; they just cannot cope with the routines and regulations required. But they still need and want to learn. Informal and community-based learning is as important for this age-group as it is for adults. At best it keeps young people in learning, at least it keeps them close to learning. Many of the skills for life are as well learned out of institutions as inside them. This is confirmed by much of the research work that the YALP has done recently, in particular on ways of catching the voice of the young adult learner.

It is right and proper that the Government recognises the need for flexibility with regard to curriculum and pace. Young people develop at different speeds consistent with their abilities and the chance to skip GCSE and start AS level programmes earlier is a good illustration. We welcome the proposed changes to targets and performance tables (though we rather wish the latter would disappear) in recognition of the different rates of progress made by 16 year-olds and the need to include vocational qualifications as well as GCSEs. We welcome too the promise to provide better advice and guidance and note the role of the flagship Connexions service in this respect. And we are pleased that the implementation of any changes will be gradual (obviously the lesson of the rushing the A Level reforms has been learned) and follow widespread consultation, since there is much still to be sorted, including knotty problems of funding.

Overall, we think there is much to be said for the extension of opportunities heralded here. But the good sense contrasts with an ingenuousness too. The aspirations of this policy seem miles away from the lived experiences of so many of the young adults we have come across who find that learning has little to offer. Flexing the curriculum will not be sufficient. There have to be real incentives that make learning as attractive a proposition as the money in hand that can be secured from casual work, sometimes in the informal economy, and a lifestyle that offers more stimulating experiences. These reforms seem to have been devised with little regard to the exigencies of the youth labour market which, for many, remains a major pull factor.

And young people achieve status and self-esteem in many other ways than through learning. The creative and cultural industries, new media and technologies, the whole hinterland of youth culture are conspicuous by their absence in the Green Paper. Educational reforms are unlikely to have the desired impact unless greater recognition is paid to young people's experience outside the established education and training system.

Recognising soft outcomes and using targets other than the ubiquitous Level 2 would help considerably those young adults who cannot cope with the conventional curriculum, pedagogy and assessment arrangements. If public service reform - which forms the heartbeat of this Government's policy ambitions- is about anything, it should be about imagining and testing out alternatives, if for many young people, whose lives are characterised by turbulence, the existing provision is not working.

This is one of the issues that will be discussed and explored at the YALP Conferences entitled "Closer to Learning" to be held in London on 10th April and York on the 16th.

So come and join in the debate with the Minister for Young People and other movers and shakers. And explore and discuss alternative ways for young people to secure the skills they need for adult life. 

Top of page

______________________________

Consultation seminar on Asylum White Paper

The Home Office White Paper on Asylum and Immigration was published in February 2002. Responses are invited by 21st March 2002.

The White Paper sets out proposals covering citizenship and nationality, working in the UK, asylum, fraud and trafficking, border controls and marriage.  The proposals have had a mixed reception. The Refugee Council expresses support for some measures, such as the confirmation that cash for asylum seekers will replace vouchers. However the Council is concerned about the failure to address unfairness in the decision-making processes; the proposals to locate accommodation centres in isolated rural areas; and to extend detentions. Oxfam and Amnesty International share these concerns.

NIACE is holding a half-day briefing and consultation event in London  on Thursday 14 March,  for its wider membership, to help frame NIACE's response to the White Paper. The debate on citizenship is one in which NIACE will also be engaged in at its Annual Study Conference in April 2002.

Related pages:

Top of page

______________________________

Citizenship and adult learning

The Citizenship Debate has returned to the policy agenda in relation to David Blunkett's move to the Home Office and as the Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy gathers momentum.

Promoting, recognising and valuing active citizenship has long been a concern of adult and community educators who are keen to see ordinary people more in control of their own lives and actively engaged in shaping them. Governments are also concerned about citizenship in relation to questions of immigration, nationality, social cohesion and social responsibility.

The recent Home Office White Paper Secure Borders, Safe Haven on Asylum and Immigration emphasises the importance of education for citizenship and the development of the ESOL curriculum and learning materials to enable migrants who wish to become British citizens to understand their rights and obligations and the principles of British democracy. At the same time it is important to emphasise the responsibilities of the host community to respect the rights and appreciate the diversity of migrants to the UK.

The promotion of citizenship education within the adult learning curriculum may provide some incentive and ideas for addressing citizenship issues more broadly, to include not just migrants but also the wider society. It is an important debate for adult and community education workers not least because we shall be responsible for delivering related provision and should be clear about its purpose and its implications.

The debate on citizenship is one in which NIACE will also be engaged in at its Annual Study Conference in April 2002.

The aims of this conference are to: 

Top of page

______________________________

NIACE is getting a new logo

From 3 April 2002, NIACE will have a brand new logo.  

The new logo will incorporate a brand new strapline:

"promoting adult learning" 

and guidelines on how to use the new logo will be made available on the NIACE website after its launch.

Some promotional materials, which have a shelf life beyond the launch date, (such as Adult Learners' Week promotional materials and some conference booking forms) have already got the new logo on them,  but the official NIACE stationery will not be changing until 3 April 2002. 

Top of page

______________________________

_______________________________________________

Top of page