Unless you are currently involved in Adult Further Education you may not be aware of what is coming in September when the Colleges of Further Education will be increasing their fees for Adult courses, reducing the amount of classes available and most importantly many classes will cease to have concessionary fees. That means Adult students on any type of benefit, including housing benefit which helps workers on a low wage, such as people on zero hours contracts; will now have to pay the full fee, where they used to qualify for a reduced or sometimes no fees applied.
Why is this important? I hear you ask.
There are many people in the community on low incomes, those who are elderly or may have suffered a debilitating illness such as a stroke or an industrial works injury or who through no fault of their own did not have a strong educational background.
Adult further education gives them the chance to return to education as a means to improve their mental and physical capability and feel part of the community and society. No matter what age or status someone is; feeling part of a community where you can meet others, establish friendships and feel you are not all alone is very important. Remember as humans we are a social being and the feeling of self-worth and making a contribution to society can be very strong in many people.
I feel the Tories only believe in an education or attending a place of learning as leading to employment or passing exams. The Tories do not appear to value education and learning as recreational or a therapeutic development.
As usual with the Tory led cuts in funding they will affect the people who need support most. This will include the deaf, the partially sighted and blind, and people who need Learning Support. I have heard from a student currently studying at the City Lit in London that they are cutting back on the classes from deaf people where it does have a very strong syllabus for the deaf and people with hearing impairments.
It has been reported by the AoC that 190,000 adult education places will no longer exist by September as the Adult Education funding is being cut by 24%. The adult skills budget has been cut by an astonishing 40% since 2010. The adult further education programme is funded through the adult skills budget which covers non- university, non- academic based education. Where I am studying at the Working Men’s College, (For Men and Women), in Camden, London, the governors and management have already decided to stop concessionary fees for people on a benefit and will now charge them full fees. This will affect the elderly, people who are on a disability benefit and people on low income who may receive housing benefit. http://www.aoc.co.uk/news/aoc-warns-the-end-adult-education-and-training-provision-2020
Martin Doel, the AoC's chief executive, said the cuts "could mean an end to the vital courses that provide skilled employees for the workforce, such as nurses and social care workers". A cut of 40% over 5 years. “That is a sizeable cut; it will have a real impact,” said Julian Gravatt, assistant chief executive of the Association of Colleges. “It will mean there will be fewer unemployed people going on courses.”
At the Working Men’s College, (WMC), I met an elderly student who had an interest in Art so this lady joined an arts class. Due to her talent; the course enabled her to gain the necessary experience and confidence to eventually graduate from a top London Arts College. This led to this ex-student of the WMC to each Art at the college. Unfortunately due to the cutback in the Art curriculum this lady is now out of a job in teaching after many years of cost to the tax payer to train her. This ex-student who began studying Art as an interest subject, graduated at an Arts College and is now considering trying to make ends meet by setting up a studio in her house although ideally this person would love to pass on her skills and experience to others such as she had. https://news.tes.co.uk/further-education/b/news/2014/02/10/163-460m-cuts-to-adult-skills-budget-quot-will-lead-to-jobs-and-courses-being-cut-quot-colleges-warn.aspx
A student at the City Lit in Holborn, London has told me that the City Lit college is planning to slash many of its classes and courses for the deaf and impaired hearing. Once again it is the people who need the most support who are feeling the effect of these cut backs in Adult Further Education.
The WMC is also cutting several classes that are very popular such as “Playing the Blues” and “Life Drawing” classes. Both of these courses were normally full and often oversubscribed with a waiting list. The college is also planning to move the Friday evening classes to a Saturday which means students who normally come straight from work to the college will no longer have this available to them. It will mean that the classes may be less well attended as many students may not find it convenient to go on a Saturday as they may have other commitments, such as a family. Many students feel this is a cunning plan hatched to close these classes due to a lack of interest and a low student count in the class.
The cuts in Adult Further Education to come will stifle any talent coming through that has been lying dormant, possible due to lack of any previous opportunity, to flourish.
It is clear and obvious once again that the Tories do not believe in any form of education for the adult, the vulnerable and people who wish to improve their skills and well-being and feel part of a society and the community.
Remember this will also affect people who are working and attempting to improve their skill, knowledge and future prospects. The cuts, not only in education but in health and social care, are going to bite in deeper than they are now. I feel that the Tories have calculated that the most severe, savage and drastic cuts will not be felt by the public until well after the General election.
Again the Tories are conning the people that all will be well with them in power.
There is a link directly below on a petition for anyone to sign who feels this is wrong.
http://fefunding.org.uk/sign-the-petition/
If you are interested and would like to learn more about the cut backs in adult further education please follow the links below.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/26/adult-education-funding-cuts
http://www.aoc.co.uk/news/aoc-warns-the-end-adult-education-and-training-provision-2020
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-32017137
https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/loans-for-adults-in-further-education-and-training
McTaggart
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