“Let us be clear that informal adult learning is valued by Government.” That’s the message from thisrecent summary report on the consultation on informal adult learning conducted by DIUS earlier this year.
But it hasn’t always felt like that as in recent years the Government’s pursuit of ‘economically valuable’ skills or as the previous Education Secretary Alan Johnson more colourfully put it, plumbing rather than pilates, has seen this form of learning go into a freefall of its own. ‘Counting the cost,’ NIACE’s survey of adult participation in learning released for this year’s Adult Learners’ Week in May cited a 3% fall in the numbers participating in learning as against the year before and worse still, “a sharp drop” from 43% to 36% in the numbers planning to take up learning in the future. Further research by the LSC into the loss of what’s said to be 1.4m adult learning places over the last three years has highlighted a similar picture with a noticeable drop off in that traditional heartbeat of informal adult learning - the “unspecified subject sector areas.”
Adult learners and their supporters are however a resilient lot and there are some signs that things might be on the up at last. After all, we have a new Campaigning Group for adult learning, an important Independent Inquiry into Lifelong Learning, a commitment from the Conservatives to put some money into adult learning and now this response from DIUS. Four reasons be cheerful perhaps?
CALL, the Campaigning Alliance for Lifelong Learning, was officially launched at the end of last month and has already attracted some 60 supporting organisations, an eclectic mix of heads and hearts. The new Skills Secretary perhaps rather rashly labelled it “well – meaning but misconceived” when questioned about CALL in Parliamentthe other day but his Secretary of State has been more circumspect. “I think the support of such a wide range of organisations is very impressive” he told the Guardian before going on to claim that his Dept would invite them all in for a chat.
The Alliance is keen to be seen as non – partisan. The principles to which its founder members sign up are pretty mainstream and include: universal access to learning, valuing learning for personal wellbeing and widening participation. With Government recently announcing £100m over the next three years to help people who lose their jobs during these difficult time undertake training to get back into work, the CALL has perhaps come just in time.
The Inquiry into the Future of Lifelong Learning has been running a little longer. It was launched in September 2007 and is due to releasesome interim papers this autumn. Like CALL, this Inquiry, which is being hosted by the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) has managed to draw together an impressive array of talent to assistit with its deliberations. Over the last year the Inquiry has been gathering evidence around a number of themes as it works towards its overall goal of “an authoritative and coherent strategic framework for lifelong learning in the UK.” This is due out as a final report in June 2009. It will be a report that the Government will find hard to ignore though whether it will be able to offer financial succour at present may be a different matter.
Talking of future funding takes us on to the Conservatives and their spending plans for adult learning. These were sketched out in a Policy Green Paper in June in which they proposed dismantling Train to Gain and using the money to support other forms of learning such as apprenticeships, skills development and adult and community development. “We will expand the provision of adult and community learning with a £100m Community Learning fund for much – needed courses to help people gain new skills, boost their employability and add social value.” The money is not great, £100m is half of what’s currently available under the Personal and Community Development Learning Fund but as a positional statement this is important. The Conservatives have not been noted for their commitment to adult learning in the past but this used all the right words. There has been some bridling from community groups that the learning would have to be delivered through FE colleges but arguably there would be nothing against sub – contracted provision where appropriate.
Moving from the Opposition to the Government, DIUS seemed pleased that itsconsultation on informal adult learninghad achieved its prime objective– that of “kick starting a discussion that would lay the foundations for a new informal adult learning strategyfor the 21st century.” The consultation ran for the first six months of this year and an impressive 5,500 responses were received.
A number of important principles were laid down: that 21st century informal learning should not be seen as something restricted to the classroom but something that happened in cafes, through blogs, book clubs and so on; that the type and form of learning provided should as far as possible be determined at a local level; and that public funding should prioritise those who had had the least opportunities in the past. There were equally some concerns, for example, about the use of technology particularly for a generation who had not grown up using it, about how best to define informal learning and about the role of Government in promoting and funding it.
In all, five “areas of action”emerged from this consultation. First, ‘raising the profile and take – up of informal learning.’ People were keen to see the benefits, which range from the social to the cerebral, “shouted loudly” and looked to Government to take a lead in this. Second, ‘improving access,’ where a lot was said about the benefits of learning in the workplace, the use of public libraries, surgeries, schools and local partnerships but the “key role” in ensuring access was ascribed to Local Authorities. Third, ‘building on the best of what already exists’ where it was felt that “the local adult education service model can remain relevant and effective for the future.” Fourth, ‘making the most of IT’ where there was a mix of enthusiasm but some hesitancy depending on how IT savvy the respondent was. Go for it but don’t replace “the opportunity to meet people and learn in a sociable environment” was the message here. And finally, ‘maintaining the strength and sustainability of informal adult learning.’A joined – up approach was sought here, particularly aligning funding, policy and initiatives.
Joining up – that’s what adult learning is all about.
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Informal adult learning response Oct 08