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Latest News: May 2007
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Some file on this page are PDF files. Skills for Life podcast
As part of a series of podcasts for Adult Learners' Week, NIACE Press Officer Ed Melia, takes a look at Skills for Life and discovers the enormous impact confidence and qualifications in literacy, language and numeracy can have on individuals, families and workplaces.
 | Download Skills for Life podcast - [Mp3 file] (If the podcast does not start playing in you browser, right click and save it onto your computer and then play it back through your usual media player) |
Other Adult Learners' Week Podcasts
| Interview with ALW Award Winner Stewart Holland - [Mp3 file] |
| Interview with ALW Award Winner Dawn Stokes - [Mp3 file] |
| Participation Survey podcast - [Mp3 file] |
| Transcripts of the podcasts can be found here |
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Practice makes perfect for British workers
Survey finds for Learning At Work Day
The central findings of the NIACE annual survey on learning at work – Practice Makes Perfect - poses challenges for current Government skills policy. Whilst the Government lays stress on securing qualifications for people at work, the NIACE survey shows an overwhelming preference for less formal ways of learning to improve job performance. A representative sample of 2,076 workers in the UK were asked which of ten ways of learning were helpful in learning to do the job better.
Learning by doing the job on a regular basis was the favourite method across the age range, for men and women, and for different social classes. Overall, 82% found this quite or very helpful. This was followed by being shown how to do things by others (62%), and watching and listening to others (56%). Just 54% felt that taking a course paid for by the employer or the worker was helpful, followed closely by reflecting on your own performance (53%). However, markedly fewer of the least skilled, a key target for Government training programmes, found courses helpful. Reading books and manuals (39%), using trial and error (38%) and using the internet (29%) were the least favourite methods.
Each of the ten methods of learning to improve job performance attracted fewer positive responses in the 2007 survey than in the surveys of 2004 and 2006.
A second key area of enquiry explored where the main responsibility for the training and development of workers lay - with the worker, their employer, or shared between the two. Just over one in five workers (21%) said that their employer was mainly responsible for their learning at work, whilst more than one in three (36%) accepted that it was mainly their responsibility, with the balance of 39% reporting that it was a shared responsibility. Fewer (28%) of the youngest workers, aged 17-19, felt the main responsibility lay with themselves, whilst 41% of 55 plus employees thought they bore the main responsibility. Semi-skilled and unskilled workers felt more of the responsibility for development and training lay with the employer, whilst higher numbers of professional and managerial workers expected to take responsibility for themselves.
Alan Tuckett, director of NIACE said:
“The survey raises important questions about the balance of our workforce skills policies. Firstly, there is powerful evidence in the survey that the British preference for less formal ways of learning remains deeply ingrained, and that Government should recognise this, by encouraging a culture of learning and reflective practice in workplaces, alongside its drive to secure an increasingly qualified workforce. This finding is reinforced by other data in the survey that suggests that workers feel more benefit from all kinds of learning when working in places where thinking about how to do the job well is encouraged and shared between workers.”
He continued, “Second, the findings about the balance of responsibility for training and development can be read in two ways. On the one hand, Government can interpret the increasing recognition by workers that they need to take the main responsibility for their own development as evidence that its policy focus on securing individual commitment to learning is working well. On the other hand, the figures equally suggest that many workers have less faith in employer-led training and skills policies than Government currently has.”
He ended, “Whichever is right, the survey suggests that the forthcoming Government action plan to implement the proposals made in the Leitch review of skills should give priority to trusting and supporting workers to identify their own development needs.”
| Read sample chapter - [PDF] |
| Buy Practice makes perfect in the NIACE Book Shop |
Source: NIACE Press Release: "Practice Makes Perfect For British Workers" Released On 24/05/2007
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Language learning doesn't stop at school – survey shows
Almost one in three people (30%) in the UK have learnt languages as an adult compared to almost half (45%) who learnt other languages – as well as their mother tongue - as a child. These are the headline findings of the 2007 NIACE survey on languages - Figures of Speech - published for Adult Learners’ Week (19th – 25th May 2007).
Currently four per cent of adults are participating in language learning of whom one per cent of adults are currently learning English. This is roughly equivalent to two million adults in the UK learning a language. In addition one in three (31%) want to learn another language: the most popular languages being French, German, Spanish and Italian.
Over one in ten (11%) of the UK population have a language other than English as their mother tongue – this is an increase from six per cent in 1999. However adults from minority ethnic groups (52%) are more likely to learn languages and these are predominantly non-European languages and English.
People who are most likely to learn continental European languages as adults tend to have English as their mother tongue and are white, young, from social classes AB and C1 and are working. In contrast those adults least likely to be participating in language learning have English mother tongue, are white, over 45 years old, from social class C1 or DE and are unemployed, not in paid employment or retired.
The main reasons why people participate in learning a foreign language are - to use on holiday or for travelling (35%), for personal development (26%) and as a leisure interest / for enjoyment (22%). A quarter of respondents (25%) are learning a language related to employment, including for their current work, to enhance their CV and/or to gain employment.
Around one in five adults (18%) learning a foreign language do this by attending a course. However most language learning takes place informally by people using a cassette or CD (36%), using a book (19%) and having a friend teach them (11%). Women are more likely than men to take part in social activities to learn another language, such as attending a course or by having a friend teach them. Men are more likely to learn at home through using facilities such as CDs or DVDs.
The survey also illustrates how successfully adults acquire language skills. Almost a third (31%) of adults learning a language can understand, over a fifth can read (22%) and speak (23%) and 15% can write anything they want in the language. Almost three-quarters of language learners can understand (74%) and speak (76%) at a basic level. For those learning English and using it all the time the success rates are much higher, with just under half considering themselves fluent in understanding (42%), speaking (46%), reading (48%) and writing (42%) in English.
Sue Meyer, NIACE Director for Programmes and Policy and co-author of the survey, said:
“In a country that needs to engage in global markets, language learning is increasingly important. The fact that English is the international language of business gives us a competitive edge but other countries are reducing that advantage. Language learning in the UK is complicated and there is much to celebrate – a huge number of languages are spoken, more people have more than one language yet different groups have different motivations and patterns of learning.”
She continued, “The state of language learning seems healthy, but future prospects are less good. The priority given to the skills strategy appears to be squeezing out languages. There is a reduction in the numbers wanting to learn languages in future, particularly in the 17–19 age groups, probably the first cohort to have missed compulsory language learning to 16 at school. Moreover, as usual, age and class patterns in language learning persist, apart from among those learning English. Breaking those patterns is the essential challenge for all involved in language provision.”
| Buy Figures of Speech in the NIACE Book Shop |
Source: NIACE Press Release: "Language learning doesn't stop at school – survey shows" Released On 2105/2007
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Adult Learners' Week National Award Ceremony
Hundreds of people gathered at the QEII Conference Centre in Westminster, London on Monday 21st May to celebrate the remarkable achievements of this year's Adult Learners' Week Award Winners. Representatives from the Department for Education and Skills, the European Social Fund, the Learning and Skills Council, Express Newspapers, Ofcom - the Office for Communications, Ufi/learndirect, the National Open College Network, City and Guilds, the Quality Improvement Agency and the Department of Health presented awards and offered their congratulations to the inspirational people and providers who have transformed their lives and the lives of countless others through learning.
Bill Rammell MP, Minister for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education, delivered a keynote address and presented awards.
| Find out who the ALW award winners are here |
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Survey confirms fears for adult learning
The annual Adult Learners’ Week survey on adult participation in learning, The Road to Nowhere? – commissioned by the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) – reports half a million adults lost to learning in the last year. The proportion of adults currently learning or having done so in the last three years has fallen to 41%.
A third of all adults (34%) say they have done no learning whatsoever since leaving full-time education and the survey also shows – as in previous years - that no significant progress is being made to encourage those adults who left school earliest and those who are amongst the poorest in society to engage in learning. In fact overall participation of poorer people is around half that experienced by the upper and middle classes (27% of DEs compared with 55% of ABs and 48% of C1s).
A five point rise - to 15% - in over-75s learning and a three point increase - (to 19%) - for learners over 65 is welcome news, but older adults’ overall participation rate is still at less than one in five. This is of concern especially when the many benefits – particularly independence and health – of learning as an older person are taken into account.
There is a marked reduction in participation by people in employment and, in particular, by part-time workers. There is a loss of 8 per cent of part-time workers learning in a single year (from 55% to 47%).
Alan Tuckett, Director of NIACE and co-author of the survey, said:
“The most worrying finding of this survey is the number of part-time workers engaged in learning, an eight per cent drop in one year. Yet the Government is really keen to rebalance learning to make sure people in the workforce learn. So something isn’t going right with public policy. It suggests that either public money is squeezing out private money that was there before or the end of short courses has particularly affected part-time workers.”
He added, “More optimistic news is that the numbers of older people engaged in learning has held firm - and if anything gone up - at a time when we’ve seen over a million learners lost in LSC-funded provision. There are more people now who think they will take up learning in the next three years. The trick is to turn those good intentions into practice. And for that people need motivation and they need opportunity.”
He ended, “The Government’s sharply rebalanced public funding for adult learning is at the expense of many people participating. It’s offering more to smaller numbers. Is that the right balance to have achieved? We’re convinced of the necessity for more public investment in adult learning, what we need is more learning opportunities and not the loss of half a million learners in just one year. Adult Learners’ Week can provide the motivation – it’s up to Government to ensure there are enough opportunities.”
| Download NIACE podcast on
the Participation Survey - [Mp3 file] (If the podcast does not start playing in you browser, right click and save it onto your computer and then play it back through your usual media player) |
| Buy The Road to Nowhere? in the NIACE Book Shop |
Source: NIACE Press Release: "Survey confirms fears for adult learning" Released On 18/05/2007
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Fee concessions for older learners
There has been debate about the future of age based adult education fee concessions since last October, when the Age Regulations, which outlaw age discrimination in work and training, became law. Some Local Authorities have taken the view that the Regulations mean that they must abolish all fee concessions, and some people are concerned that this could result in a drop in enrolments.
On 16 May 2007 the Minister, Bill Rammell, made a statement to the House of Commons to clarify the position. He pointed out that it was never the intention of the Government to see a reduction in provision for older learners as a result of the Regulations, and although it is now illegal to discriminate against someone on grounds of age in “vocational training” (which includes all further and higher education), the Age Regulations do permit “objective justification” of discrimination in specific circumstances.
NIACE’s view is that arbitrary discrimination on the basis of age is wrong (as well as illegal), and that those who can pay should be expected to do so, since this maximises the resources available to support those who can’t pay. However, there are clearly arguments for specific measures to encourage particular groups of people to participate.
If providers wish to maintain fee concessions they are advised to be clear about the basis on which they are doing this, and consider seeking their own legal advice.
| Further details can be found here on the Age Regulations part of this website |
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ALW - the perfect time to get Skills for Life
People across the country, of all ages and backgrounds, have gone back to learning and gained valuable Skills for Life qualifications in literacy and numeracy that have helped them with their professional and personal lives.
And during Adult Learners’ Week – 19th – 25th May 2007 - some of those people will be receiving awards in recognition of their motivation, dedication and achievements. They include:
Eve Huggins, aged 43 from Diss who has gone from strength to strength in her career. Through her example she has encouraged over 100 other work colleagues to access education and training. Eve decided to return to learning to improve her skills for her job, improve her confidence and to be able to help her children with their homework. She has completed Literacy and Numeracy at Levels 1 and 2, Making It Happen, a qualification to support learners with difficulties in literacy, Intermediate Health & Nutrition, City & Guilds 7320 Certificate in Delivering Learning Level 3, Train the Trainer and Intermediate Food Hygiene Level 3. Eve, now a Catering Manager at Norfolk County Council, delivers hygiene training to new staff in the firm’s catering division.
Kaiwan Mahmud, an Iraqi refugee aged 25, from Peterborough had only had a sporadic education because of war before he arrived in the UK. He had a low level of literacy even in his own language. He spoke no English but now he converses fluently. And from being unable to read and write he now has good basic literacy – enough to allow him to pass his Heavy Goods Vehicle class 2 driving test and work as a lorry driver. Kaiwan has achieved a number of qualifications, including English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) speaking and listening Entry level 3, ESOL Entry 3 and ESOL writing Entry 2. Kaiwan is currently completing a Clait computer qualification and is enrolled on a two-year Maths GCSE course. He is applying to study Business Administration.
First Attempts - a learning programme run by Orpington College at the First UK Bus Garage in Orpington - have transformed an old cupboard into a Learning Centre for bus drivers, mechanics and ancillary staff. All Skills for Life subjects – including ESOL are available under one roof. Having always encouraged family participation, the Learning Centre now sees wives and other members of employee families attending to access Skills for Life qualifications and a number of learners have been supported through their UK citizenship exams. Other topics as diverse as pensions to secondary school applications now sit alongside more traditional literacy, language and numeracy sessions. Increased morale has seen staff turnover decrease from 25% to 12% with the sickness/absence rate falling from 12% to 4%. Drivers are now often seen reading on their breaks rather than playing pool or watching television.
Skills Minister, Phil Hope, said:
“Adult Learners’ Week is a hugely important annual celebration of learning intended to encourage adults to update their skills. Good literacy and numeracy are crucial and the economy's competitiveness depends on it. Brushing up on Maths and English skills can make a vital difference in helping people find and keep good jobs and make progress in their careers.”
He continued, "It’s easy to get on courses. They are free and held all around the country at times to suit individual's own circumstances. To find out more, please call our free helpline on 0800 66 0800.”
Source: NIACE Press Release: "ALW - the perfect time to get skills for life" Released On 16/05/2007
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Commission for disabled staff launched
A Commission examining the recruitment, training, deployment and career progression of disabled staff in lifelong learning in England and Wales has been officially launched today - Wednesday 9th May 2007.
The Commission of Disabled Staff in Lifelong Learning is led by NIACE and is chaired by Leisha Fullick, Pro Director at the Institute of Education, University of London. The Commission has members from across the lifelong learning sector, including the DfES, the LSC, unions and other representatives from higher, further and adult education.
Evidence will also be collected and reviewed from disabled staff, senior managers and HR departments, training providers, professional and advocacy organisations and government. This evidence will help identify improvements needed, acknowledge the impacts disabled staff have and the achievements of learners as a result of disabled staff and examine the position of disabled staff in the wider policy context.
Recommendations will be made to policy makers, funders, employers and training providers. Guides on recruitment, retention and achievements of disabled staff will also be produced.
Leisha Fullick said:
“I am delighted to have been invited by NIACE to chair this Commission. The importance that the government is currently according to adult skills means that staffing issues for the lifelong learning sector is going to have an increasingly high profile. It is very important that teaching and support staff in this sector reflect the communities they serve and that a sector that is so closely involved in promoting equality of opportunity for students is seen to promote equality of opportunity for its disabled staff.”
Lee Probert, Head of Equality and Diversity at the LSC, said:
“I am delighted to have been invited to be a Commissioner for this important investigation into the employment of disabled people in the lifelong learning area. We know that issues around employment of disabled people are complex and I look forward to hearing the findings of the Commission and being able to use them not only in improving opportunities in the lifelong learning workforce, but also to inform our strategies for employability more widely. We know from our experience of the Commission for Black staff in Further Education that investigations like this can make a real difference, and I am confident the impact of this Commission will be comparable.”
Christine Nightingale, Development Officer for the Health and Disability Equality Team at NIACE, said:
”We are extremely pleased to have launched this Commission. The focus of activity on disability issues has primarily been on learners and students over the last few years. And this must continue. However Disability Discrimination legislation and duties apply to disabled staff too. Unfortunately evidence has shown that disabled staff continue to face discrimination and harassment in their working lives. Many staff are too afraid to disclose their disabilities for fear of being disadvantaged . We want the Commission to uncover the successes and challenges for disabled staff in lifelong learning. All learners need to see disabled people working positively as good role models.”
Anyone interested in submitting evidence to the Commission of Disabled Staff in Lifelong Learning can do so in a number of accessible formats including online at: http://www.niace.org.uk/projects/commissionfordisabledstaff/consultations.htm
| The Commission's website can be found at www.niace.org.uk/commissionfordisabledstaff |
Source: NIACE Press Release: "Commission for disabled staff launched" Released On 09/05/2007
See also:
| Involve and influence – Disabled staff seminars Three seminars to give disabled staff, human resource managers and senior managers an opportunity to review and discuss the evidence provided to the Commission for Disabled Staff in Lifelong Learning so far. |
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Learning for Work: Employability and adults with disabilities
Conference May 14th May 2007, London
Sir Digby Jones, the former Chief Executive of the CBI and the UK Skills Envoy is a keynote speaker at a joint NIACE and Remploy conference to be held in London on Monday 14th May.
The aim of the conference is to use the impetus created by Government policy and in particular the LSC strategy for Improving Education and Training Opportunities for People with learning difficulties and/or disabilities - Learning for Living and Work to take this work forward. There will be opportunities to discuss policy and practice, network and gather information and to plan how to take their work further forward.
Sir Digby’s speech “What employers want and what they could do” will address the role of employers and supporting disabled people in employment.
The day will be chaired by Chris Banks Chair of the Learning and Skills Council and includes presentations from Beverley Burgess, Young People's Partnership and Infrastructure Director, Learning and Skills Council.
An expert panel consisting of: Beverley Burgess, Peter Little OBE, Chair of Through Inclusion to Excellence; Bob Warner, Chief Executive at Remploy; and Dr Peter Lavender, Director of Development, Research and Information at NIACE, will answer questions from conference delegates.
At the conference the LSC and NIACE will launch a set of six information sheets, Moving into Work. These focus on the process of supporting people with learning difficulties in their transition to work from education and training. They are aimed at a number of different key players who are essential for this process to succeed:
| Parents and carers |
| employers; |
| people with learning difficulties; |
| practitioners in the FE sector; |
| managers and co-ordinators of vocational training and courses; |
| Information, Advice and Guidance services; |
As well as printed copies they will be available to download from the NIACE website at http://www.niace.org.uk/research/HDE/documents.htm
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The UK's largest festival of learning
The largest festival of learning in the UK is just a few weeks away. Adult Learners’ Week - which runs from 19th – 25th May 2007 and is organised by NIACE – is a time when thousands of people consider a return to learning and begin a life-transformational journey.
Each year around 10,000 events (taster sessions, demonstrations, workshops) take place, attracting anything up to 100,000 visitors and participants. Adults will have opportunities to get a taste of learning in colleges, shops and supermarkets, factories and businesses, libraries and museums, community and adult education centres. Details of what’s on offer this year is available from the online calendar of events at: www.alw.org.uk/calendar
Adult Learners’ Week is also the time when adults from across the country are awarded for their remarkable achievements through learning. Inspirational stories of people realising long-held ambitions and transforming their lives will demonstrate the effectiveness of learning as an adult.
Supporting this year’s Adult Learners’ Week is comedienne Jo Brand. She said:
“I know through my time working as a psychiatric nurse that learning can benefit not only your confidence and your career but also your health. Furthermore, my recent experiences learning to play the organ for the television programme Play It Again reminded me that learning as an adult can be a lot of fun too - despite the fact that I was in a state of terror for most of it. Learning changes lives. Give yourself a chance to succeed and try something new during Adult Learners’ Week. You’ll soon realise that nothing is impossible.”
The Skills Minister, Phil Hope MP, said:
“Adult Learners’ Week has become the single biggest event in the adult learning calendar. Learning opens all sorts of new doors in people’s lives. The Week celebrates the success of the tens of thousands of adult learners across the country who have seized that opportunity to improve their lives, transform their careers and enjoy the benefits learning brings.”
He continued, “We want everyone, whatever their age or background, to have the opportunity to succeed through learning. We are transforming the culture of learning in this country and for many people the learning journey will start during Adult Learners’ Week. There are more learning opportunities today than ever, including free provision for adults to get their first numeracy or literacy qualification and a free entitlement to get a first full Level 2 qualification, equivalent to 5 good GCSEs. People can quickly and easily find out about courses in their area by calling learndirect free on 0800 100 900. And our new Train to Gain service is helping businesses get the training they need to succeed, including offering free training to up-skill employees.”
He ended, “The learners, and their tutors, advisers, employers, families and friends, who have encouraged and supported them along the way are an example and inspiration to us all.”
Rachel Thomson, Senior Campaigns Officer at NIACE, said:
“Each Adult Learners’ Week is a great opportunity for you to get a taste of the positive impact that learning could have on your life. The remarkable stories of the outstanding learners we celebrate with our awards illustrate just how good learning is for your health, your confidence and your career learning is. This is the perfect time to follow in their inspirational footsteps.”
She ended, “Whatever you want out of life, learning can steer you in the direction you want it to go in. There will be thousands of events taking place across the country and to find out more about what’s on offer where you are during this year’s Adult Learners’ Week, visit our website www.alw.org.uk or call learndirect advice free on 0800 100 900.”
Source: NIACE Press Release: "The UK's largest festival of learning" Released On 24/04/2007
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