Saving Adult Education

[WendyS]

Apparently 200,000 Adult Education places, ranging from Foreign Languages to Yoga and other vocational courses have been lost this year due to Government cutbacks, with another 200,000 forecast cuts next year.    The Association of Colleges is preparing a petition to present to Government to protect adult learning provision.  If you hope to benefit from Adult Education in the future as part of your continuing self-development you may wish to sign the petition on their website at www.aoc.co.uk

[Hermia]

That's interesting. I filled in the petition, although I wonder whether it will really do any good. Adult education is pretty useless in my area. I used to do a different course each year, but now most of the courses are held during the day which is useless if you work. The neighbouring borough has the same problem.

[Dakota]

This is one hell of a bug bear for me - the whole issue in general.  I had a rant at a colleague on the the subject of adult education the other day.  The way I see it is that the government apparently cannot see that there is a LOT of adults out there who went to work straight after school for whatever reason and only now want to pursue a career they will enjoy and be good at.  I am 28 years old and it's really only in the last couple of years that I have known within myself what I want to do with my life.  How can the government possibly think that all 18 year olds know what they want to do with their lives??  OK, there will be a minority of young students who know what they want, but I'll hedge my bets that the majority of young students have chosen their Uni course under the guidance of their guardians, or because it's an easier option than finding work for the moment.

So here I am 12 years after leaving school, considering going to Uni but not getting any support whatsoever from the government that I have paid TAXES to for the last 12 years because they will not give me an adequate grant to cover my rent / mortgage to enable me to chase my dream and eventually boost THEIR economy by earning good money in my chosen career and now here I am reading that they're stifling us further!

To continue further with my rant (sorry!), whatever happened to apprenticeships?  Why am I hearing less and less of young folks leaving school and going into the trade industries of yesteryear?  Plumbers, painters and decorators, the gas board, electritians etc etc.

I tell you something, as soon as Tony Blair et al have a blocked loo and have nobody to unblock it I'm sure they'll be reconsidering their position in the whole matter!

(OK, that was a far fetched scenario, but it highlights the point nonetheless LOL)

Petition signed!

[WendyS]

Dakota - I really sympathise with you.  There are so many young people doing mediocre degrees in media studies and other subjects who won't be able to find jobs when they graduate, or who leave school still undecided about a career until something comes along which really triggers their interest or motivates them to learn something new.  It's also very ifficult to find a good plumber, carpenter or other craftsman whose skills are really valuable.  And you're so right.  Learning doesn't finish at the age of 18 or whenever you leave school or university.  Many of us wish to add to our skills throughout out working lives, or change careers and retrain  and there ought to be an education system out there which addresses these needs.  I e-mailed all my friends and asked them to sign the petition if they agreed.   There was an overwhelming positive response so it's obvious how many people have used the Adult Education system at some point in their lives to learn something new, or even just to take a new hobby which adds value to their lives.   

[Dakota]

You're so right Wendy, it's only through life experience that I know what my *true* needs and wants are and that's why I want to re-educate in a career of my careful choosing - now.  You're right that it is very hard to find a good craftsman etc. because so much pressure is put on these kids to go to Uni as they are told that you need a degree to get on in life, which is true to a certain degree (no pun intended), but I have worked hard since starting out at 16 and I'm in a damn good job now, without the degree, but it bores me, it's NOT what I want to spend the rest of my life doing.  These kids are not encouraged to consider that taking an apprenticeship.

You're so right too that they are all going for the media studies etc. they don't realise that x amount have just completed that course and there's only so many jobs around.  They end up graduating in something they are not passionate about and end up working in shops and factories and not getting an opportunity to put their new skills to use.  In no way am I disrespecting those who do work in shops and factories as they are as integral to our economy as any other occupation.

I just think that these kids need to be encourged that Uni is not the be all and end all and if most kids went straight into working life and gave it a few years to really have a think about what they wish to do with their lives, then in turn it would Uni would be Adult friendly, which in turn would increases the Uni's pass rates as we're (as adults) worldy experienced and ready to tackle what interests us with a passion!

By all means, I am not discouraging school leavers to attend Uni, I am discouraging them attending for the hell of it and because they are pushed into it by their "proud" guardians and secondry school teacher telling them what they should be studying.

Rant over once again LOL