Since the election the new ministers for Further and Adult Education, Vince Cable and John Hayes, have given a series of speeches outlining their commitment to Lifelong Learning.
On 3 June2010 Vince Cable, new Minister of State at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), said, “I want BIS to play a central role in putting Higher and Further Education on a sound footing for the future and linking both better into the economy. Bringing HE, skills and enterprise together under the one departmental roof is central to the ‘BIS dividend’. My priorities are an increased emphasis on lifelong learning, stripping out some of the bureaucracy around FE and making sure that the outdated value distinction between blue collar apprenticeships and further education on one hand, and university on the other, is disposed of for good. In the last few weeks I found scope within my department to refocus £200 million in capital spending in FE colleges and 50,000 extra apprenticeships. Indeed, it is shocking that we only have 250,000 apprenticeships to start with. Education and learning are of course desirable in their own right. Education for education’s sake – learning how to learn - benefits the economy in the long term. Philistinism is bad economics. It is also fundamentally unacceptable. A story from my own life makes the point. My mother and father left school at fifteen to work in factories. My father eventually taught building trades in the local technical college: we need more people like him. My mother was a housewife and when I was ten she had a major nervous breakdown and spent time in a mental hospital. When she recovered she saved her mind through adult education – learning for the first time about history, literature, philosophy and art. We need more people like her too.”
Our challenge as a sector is to ensure that ministers and policy makers understand the importance of continuing to fund lifelong learning accessible to all.
The government has set out its Spending Review Framework and plans to review all submissions against the following nine criteria:
Is the activity essential to meet Government priorities?
Does the Government need to fund this activity?
Does the activity provide substantial economic value?
Can the activity be targeted to those most in need?
How can the activity be provided at lower cost?
How can the activity be provided more effectively?
Can the activity be provided by a non-state provider or by citizens, wholly or in partnership?
Can non-state providers be paid to carry out the activity according to the results they achieve?
Can local bodies as opposed to central government provide the activity?
The “Big Society” needs adult learning!
Click on the link below for a copy of an article written by Ceri Williams, Principal of Mary Ward Centre, for National Institute of Adult and Continuing Education (NIACE) journal Adults Learning June 2010
During August there will be a public exercise of consultation. This will be an opportunity for those who understand the value of LIfelong Learning to make our case.
Watch this space for further information about this.
