The following short film on cuts to adult learning in Liverpool was shown at yesterday’s successful fringe meeting at TUC Congress.

In response to the announced cuts to adult education in Tower Hamlets, London CALL has issued a statement to the press urging all parties to defend the important services that serve some of London’s poorest and most disadvantages citizens.

Click below to read the full press release.

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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

In recent weeks a number of universities have cut continuing education courses for adults across England following the Government’s decision last year to remove funding for equivalent or lower level qualifications (ELQs).

A recent Times Higher Education article highlighted the scale of the problem:

“Severe cuts” are taking place to continuing education courses across the country, the professional body for lifelong learning in higher education has warned.

As the Universities Association for Lifelong Learning (UALL) held its annual conference in Brighton, more universities confirmed course closures as a result of the Government’s decision to stop the funding of students taking second qualifications at an equal or lower level to those they already hold (ELQs).

Read the article here.

Recently government spokespeople including the Secretary of State have been critical of the value of “holiday” Spanish courses being subsidised by the state.

Here is Senator (now President) Obama’s view of the value of language learning:

Both major national education supplements covered the CALL lobby in this week’s editions.

The Education Guardian ran a story called “Hasta la vista, Denham” which featured extended coverage of the question and answers session with the minister as well as the lobby as a whole. 

The TES FE Focus also reported on the lobby, printing a photo of the lobby on its cover (picture ot the right) and a letter from David Blunkett on adult learning called “Instil a wartime spirit to overcome the odds“.

UPDATE: The Times Higher Education Supplement has also covered the lobby in it’s article “Denham booed over adult education budget cuts“.

We know many of you took photos and video at the lobby and we would love to share them with everyone. Please send you photos (or links to them if they are stored online) to robert.whitaker@nus.org.uk.

A video made to help explain the issues in adult education and promoting the lobby on the 25th February.

Adult education cuts continue to make headlines in both the specialist and mainstream press.

These include recent stories like:

• Funded adult education places falling, say Tories, Guardian – 13 February 2009
• Adult learning slashed, Times Online – 13 February 2009

There is a great deal of public interest in the future of adult education and we need to ensure that the CALL lobby is a success to keep the pressure on the Government to fix it.

Government cuts to non-vocational courses were discussed on the “You and Yours” programme today.  you can listen to the programme on BBC iPlayer (item starts at about 33 minutes in to the programme).

Features Nigel Pollitt of the Save Adult Education Campaign and Trisha Hartley of Campaign for Learning.

Also, the item mentions that the government’s response to the Informal Adult Learning consultation will be published tomorrow.