Some good news from Brighton University this week, where it was reported that Continuing and Vocational Education/Adult Education provision will not now be suspended. The suspension, announced in March this year, has now been lifted, and the provision will be re-launched in January, in expanded form.  Recruitment to the courses will commence in October.  The UCU has also secured an assurance that existing staff on temporary contracts who were recently made redundant will be offered the work again from January, while permanent staff will be engaged in refining the provision, and in designing the new programmes.  An energetic union and community based campaign was set up and the decision to continue with provision was taken after the Faculty Academic Board for Arts and Humanities expressed concern about the manner in which the decision had been taken, and declined to endorse it.  This is an important reaffirmation of the role of Faculty Academic Boards, and by extension of the University Academic Board, in the governance of this academic institution. For more on this campaign, click here: http://www.savebrightonarthouse.org/about-4/

The Language and Literacy Unit  is a very well respected unit within South Bank University. It is one of the leading centres for work in literacy, numeracy and ESOL. For over 25 years it has been producing vital research, supporting Skills for Life teachers and providing CPD. It is now under threat from South Bank University who are planning to close the department. Staff at the Unit have started various campaigns, focusing on the work they do. People are being asked to sign their online petition, write to the university’s Vice Chancellor, and to join the Facebook group.
Sign the online petition at http://www.gopetition.com/online/37305.html
Facebook group ‘Defend LLU’ at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Defend-LLU/120675761308956 .
Visit our Google site at http://sites.google.com/site/defendlluplus/

The ‘Friends of Community Education Lewisham’ have written to their local mayor to protest against creche closures. Creche facilities are normally provided for students taking part in the council’s Community Education Lewisham courses. As a result of the closures, 26 staff members will be made redundant at the end of this term. The Friends of CEL are particularly concerned about the lack of consultation with user groups about this cut in provision, which will affect in particular younger women with young children. Read more about this here: 

http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/lewgreen/8194868.LEWISHAM__

Creches_set_to_close_across_the_borough/

Venue: The Alnwick Garden, Alnwick, Northumberland

Date: Saturday 20 March 2010, 10am – 3pm

Price: Free

Is democracy working for Northumberland in 2010? What are the challenges for the future? How can democracy be more representative of the people of Northumberland? How can individuals have an impact on local and national decision-making processes?

If you’re interested in finding out more, come along to the conference! Includes Northumberland Question Time, hosted by TV’s Jenni Bond, and a panel with local politicians Rt Hon Sir Alan Beith (MP), Liberal Democrats, Alan Strickland, Labour, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Conservative, and a member of the UK Youth Parliament.

To find out more and book your place contact Paula Baxter, Take Part Northumberland, tel 0191 2126100 or 07500 103903, email pbaxter@wea.org.uk

CALL founder organisation has launched a petition to the Prime Minister to defend the funding to FE in the face of cuts to both adult and 14-19 provision across the UK.

The petition says:

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to protect and maintain funding for the vital services that Further Education provides.

You can sign the petition on the Number 10 website here: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/FE-Funding/

On Sunday the London Politics Show on BBC One featured an extended report on cuts to english language courses across the capital and in Tower Hamlets and Hackney in particular.

You can watch it for the next seven days on the BBC iPlayer, the report starts at 49 minutes.

Click here to view the programme on iPlayer.

Writing in today’s Education Guardian David Blunkett, ex-Secretary of State for Education reflected on the creation of the new Department for Business, Innovation and Skills:

“But the bigger challenge facing the new department is to trust people to make their own decisions about what they need to learn. That is the key message of Call, which has brought together over 200 organisations to make the case for the restoration of college- and community-based adult education provision by professionally trained teachers.”

Read the full article on the guardian’s website.

CALL has learned that at least two colleges in London - Tower Hamlets and Hackney – are planning cuts to the adult education and ESOL departments including many redundancies.

UCU and Unison branches at both colleges have launched camapigns to defend the courses and that jobs of those that teach them, you can read statements from both by clicking “read the rest of this entry” below.

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In December NIACE launched a campaign called “A Right to a Voice” that aims to overturn the decision, in 2007, to withdraw the right for asylum seekers to access ESOL (English as a Second Language) courses in the first six months in the country.

CALL supports this campaign as part of its second core principle:

Universal access to basic skills, ESOL and ICT courses and a first level three qualification regardless of age.

Lots more information about the campaign can be found on the A Right to a Voice website.

Last week NIACE published the results of its annual survey of adult learning participation which shed further light on the impact of Government’s adult education policy.  The survey has been covered widely in the press with the Government disputing its findings.  You can read more here:

• Adult learning slump hits Labour heartland hardest, TES FE Focus, 8 May 2009.
• Adult learners ‘lowest since ‘97′, BBC News website, 8 May 2009.
• When a rise in numbers is actually a fall, Education Guardian, 12 May