The Machinery of Government (MoG) proposals – announced today (17 March 2008) – to replace the Learning and Skills Council with new bodies for young people and adults after 2010 risk the further erosion of the Government’s commitment to lifelong and lifewide learning in England, claims the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE). These proposals – according to NIACE – also threaten to marginalise the interests of adults as learners outside Higher Education.
Alan Tuckett, Director of NIACE, said, “Since the incorporation of colleges, every
change to the institutional infrastructure has initially resulted in damage to provision for adult part-time students. The experience of NIACE is that any measures that set the needs of one group of learners against another generally results in adults losing out.
“Further Education colleges are used overwhelmingly by adults but are driven by the needs of younger full-time students preparing for entry to the labour market. In spite of this they have been outstandingly effective in widening participation and achievement for all. NIACE is concerned that the new arrangements may inhibit colleges from continuing to meet the needs of learners from all sections of society to realise their aspirations and ambitions through learning.
“For the Government’s proposals to succeed, Whitehall departments, local government and new funding bodies and agencies will need to display greater levels of flexibility and willingness to work across organisational silos than has
occurred in the past. The challenge for local authorities in working together and with others is considerable.”
He ended, “The absence of a planning role for the proposed Funding Agency for
Skills will lead to more confusion. A demand-led funding system needs to respect
the full range of adult demand, not simply that prioritised through Government’s
Public Service Agreements. While local authorities are not to be the most
appropriate bodies to lead on the entire skills agenda, they do however understand
the needs of the communities they serve.”
To better safeguard adult learners’ interests, NIACE proposes that Government
should give local authorities a statutory duty to advise and comment on the plans of
the Skills Funding Agency with regard to the adequacy and sufficiency of local
arrangements for the education and training of adults – within their areas – in the
welfare of communities.
The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) is the leading non-
government organisation for lifelong learning in England, and exists to encourage
more and different adults to engage in better-quality learning of all kinds.
www.niace.org.uk
Visit the Fuse Learning website: www.fuselearning.co.uk
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