Adult education centres must be allowed to reopen safely, the organisation representing providers has said today.
Holex, the professional body for adult community education and learning, has called on the government to allow adult education providers to extend their provision beyond vulnerable learners.
From today, colleges across the country are able to open their doors to a quarter of their younger learners. However, the Department for Education have said that they do not expect adult learners to be included in the cohort of learners accessing on-site delivery.
Updated guidance on the DfE’s website says: “We would not normally expect adults to be included in the cohort returning to on-site delivery from 15 June, subject to the flexibilities listed in the changes to delivery section.”
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In its submission, Holex said: “With the proper measures and risk assessment in place, many providers feel they could open for adults now, especially for low-skilled adults who have lost their jobs and adults with moderate mental health issues suffering the anxiety of social isolation.
“Many providers have stayed open for vulnerable learners and key worker children and would now like to expand their provision. Taking into account their risk assessment, principals and heads of service should be given the flexibility to decide on opening.”
The organisation is calling on the government to urgently consider four actions concerning adult education - including funding to be increased to provide equipment and infrastructure to enable tutors to continue to develop and deliver online or blended learning, and for an extension to delivery flexibility and a continuation of the ease in the redundant performance rules in the 2020-21 academic year.
Holex is also asking the Department for Education (DfE) to postpone any planned system changes. It says that the “government should not be risking destabilisation of funding to local authority areas while everyone is working through this crisis and its impact.”
It adds: “The actual need for post-19 learning, skills and training will evolve, but most definitely will not go away and the infrastructure, including trained expert staff, has to be maintained.
“The government should delay any changes to subcontracting and quickly fill the vacuum in the level 2 offer by reinstating some frameworks or fast track apprenticeship standards.”
Rebooting adult education
Earlier today, the Centre of Social Justice (CSJ) called for a “reboot” of adult education and training in a new report, entitled The long game: how to reboot skills training for disadvantaged adults. The report warns that Britain’s workers with the lowest skills face a “dire future” as a result of the impending recession and says that adult education is key in mitigating against this.
The CSJ has called for community learning centres to be revitalised and for extra funding to boost levels of qualifications, as well as improved access to part-time higher learning and a tax break for employers who invest in low-skilled workers.
The DfE has been contacted for comment.
