A Right to a Voice Friday, January 23, 2009 - 17:55

ESOL Learner and Tutor

A Right to a Voice was launched in London on the 60th Anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights.

The purpose of this NIACE-led campaign is to:

  • reveal the impact of ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) policy changes upon asylum seekers,
  • highlight the injustice and inefficiency of the current policy with regard to access to ESOL provision; and
  • seek to change government policy in England regarding access to ESOL.

The launch event heard from Benjoly from the Congo who had fled to England several years ago in fear for his life. He was unable to speak a word of English when he arrived, however within just two years he was studying for a degree thanks to the English classes that had been provided for him. He now works as a lecturer in Maths and Electronics at an FE College in Islington.

Benjoly said,

"If I had to wait six months to learnEnglish, like people have to now, I probably wouldn't have gone to university and become a teacher. Like so many others I would have felt excluded and my motivation and ability to learn would have dropped. Learning English has helped me to make many friends here and it has helped me to get where I am today."

Supporters

The momentum for A Right to a Voice is growing. Over 100 organisations and individuals have now expressed their commitment and support for the campaign. These include organisations like:

  • NATECLA (National Association for Teaching English and other Community Languages to Adults)
  • UCU (University and College Union)
  • AoC (Association of Colleges)
  • ACM (Assocation for College Management)

    If I had to wait six months to learn English, like people have to now, I probably wouldn't have gone to university and become a teacher.

    Benjoly
  • LLU+
  • Open University
  • NUS (National Union of Students)
  • the Refugee Council
  • Oxfam; and
  • many colleges.

High profile individuals supporting A Right to a Voice include:

  • the Archbishop of Canterbury
  • Rabbi Rich
  • Baroness Sharp of Guildford; and
  • Glenys Kinnock.

A Right to a Voice - civil action

In addition to the national campaign, we plan to focus on civil action and engage the voluntary sector, refugee community groups and faith groups to work with asylum seekers in small groups to offer a six month Welcome to Britain - [Word] programme. The programme will be a focus for learning some basic English and getting to know their local area area for health, transport and school facilities.

How you could help.  We need:

  • Individuals to join the campaign and organisations to work with us as partners in the campaign. You could disseminate information via email or newsletter on the campaign. You could join our lobby of Parliament in June.
  • ESOL teachers or trainers to train the volunteers. Perhaps you have experience in ESOL teaching/teacher training and would be interested in giving 2-5 days to train a group of volunteers?
  • Volunteers to work with small groups of asylum seekers. We need groups of volunteers to join existing groups all over the country, and set up new groups.
  • Organisations willing to provide venues for groups of asylum seekers to meet on a weekly basis.

NIACE is also mapping the existing groups and volunteers - please contact us to be included: 

Other ways to get involved include:

  • Write to your MP and ask for ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) to be re-instated for asylum seekers from their first day of arrival in this country
  • Collect case studies and send to NIACE
  • Email your colleagues with A Right to a Voice campaign information.

If you want to support the campaign, contact Chris Taylor, NIACE Development Officer at: chris.taylor@niace.org.uk

 

 

 

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