ESOL courses promote integration Thursday, April 14, 2011 - 11:51

NIACE welcomes the comments by the Prime Minister, David Cameron, on Thursday 14 April 2011, that:

"Real communities are bound by common experiences...forged by friendship and conversation...knitted together by all the rituals of the neighbourhood, from the school run to the chat down the pub. And these bonds can take time. So real integration takes time."

The role that courses in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) can play in such integration is central to this aspiration. NIACE believes all adults who wish to improve their English language skills should have access to affordable, high quality language courses, to help them integrate and contribute to society and to the economy.

NIACE is concerned, however, that proposed changes to the funding of ESOL courses will have the opposite effect, resulting in significantly fewer courses and higher fees. The changes will work against the Prime Minister's hopes for an integrated Britain, not with them. Over the last four years, the policies of this government and the previous one have resulted in a fall from 219,000 to 183,000 adults learning ESOL and current proposals put up to half of the remaining places at risk.

What the reduction in ESOL places means is fewer chances for a reviving British economy to make use of the skills of migrants. It means that the children of families with poor English have an extra hurdle to overcome in doing well at school and it means that it will take longer for people to share their experiences with others in the ways the Prime Minister describes.

Chris Taylor, NIACE Programme Manager for ESOL, said:

"We are very concerned about the impact of these changes on ESOL learners. In order to achieve real integration, we ask the government to look again at the evidence and assess what could be done to ensure those individuals most disadvantaged get the English language courses they need."

NIACE's Principal Policy and Advocacy Officer, Alastair Thomson, added:

"We look to Vince Cable and his team to ensure that ESOL courses remain accessible and affordable so that they continue to promote the integration and social cohesion that the Prime Minister wants."