Memorandum from the National Institute
of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE)
INTRODUCTION
The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education
(NIACE), believes that the right to education is the key which
enables people to access other human rights. Individuals can learn
about rights that they have and they can develop the skills to
get them.
NIACE welcomes the opportunity to submit evidence
to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the subject of Human Rights
and Adults with Learning Disabilities. This outlines recent legislative
and policy developments that have the potential to make a positive
impact on post-16 education and training provision for adults
with learning difficulties (NIACE, in common with most in the
field of education, uses this term in preference to the Department
of Health phrase "adults with learning disabilities").
It then goes on to outline our concerns regarding the quality
of and access to provision and presents the views of people with
learning difficulties with whom we have worked, reflecting on
their experience of post-16 education and training.
NIACE
NIACE is an independent non-governmental organisation
and charity. Its corporate and individual members come from a
range of places where adults learn: in further education colleges
and local community settings; in universities, workplaces and
prisons as well as in their homes through the media and information
technology. NIACE's work is supported by a wide range of bodies
including the DIUS formerly the DfES (with which it has a formal
voluntary sector compact) and other departments of state, by the
Local Government Association and by the Learning and Skills Council.
The ends to which NIACE activities are directed can be summarised
as being to secure more, different and better quality opportunities
for adult learners, especially those who benefited least from
their initial education.
NIACE's work on disability is based on the social
model of disability; this approach focuses on the barriers in
society that disable people and does not see the individual as
a "problem" to be solved.
A group of adults with learning difficulties
produced their own Charter for Learning (shown below).
It highlights 12 key principles that people with learning disabilities
want to see applied in post-16 education provision.
— We are adults with a voice, we
want to be heard
The right to choose to go to classes
— We should have a say in what we
learn
The right to have support
— Someone to help who you can rely
on
The right to have the chance to make friends
— To mix with the crowd a little
more and make new friends
The right to have fun learning
— The more you enjoy it, the more
you learn
— Lifts, ramps, more room for wheelchairs
The right not to be bullied
— Cut out bullying—everybody
equal
The right to be treated as adults, with respect
The right to have clear information that we can
understand
— The information needs to be easy
to understand—it is too complicated
The right to have good teaching
— You need a good teacher to help
you learn
The right to be able to do a course to get a
job
— To give us the skills to maybe
get a job
The right to learn in a nice place
— A place where you feel comfortable
Practical application of human rights principles
to the provision of public services, the ability of individuals
to access such services and the quality of provision—Post-16
Education and Training.
LEGISLATIVE AND
POLICY DEVELOPMENTS
There have been significant legislative and
policy developments recently which champion the rights of disabled
learners and provide significant and relevant strategies to take
forward work to improve the quality of provision in the post-16
education and training system for people with learning difficulties.
In 2002 disabled learners gained new rights
under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) Part 4 which requires
education providers:
— not to treat disabled learners less
favourably than other learners for a reason related to their disability;
and
— to provide reasonable adjustments
for disabled learners.
The Learning and Skills Council has funded a
training, research and development programme in the post-16 sector
based on the duties of the DDA. The purpose of this has been to
support providers to implement their duties under the act and
to develop good practice in provision for people with learning
difficulties and/or disabilities. Most recently this has focussed
on supporting organisations to implement the requirements of the
duty to promote Disability Equality.
In 2006 the Learning and Skills Council published
its national strategy for disabled learners: Learning for Living
and Work: Improving Education and Training Opportunities for People
with Learning difficulties and/or disabilities. (LSC, 2006). NIACE
welcomed this strategy and the LSC commitment to:
"Securing and funding appropriate high-quality
learning provision for learners of all ages with learning difficulties
and/or disabilities remains a consistent aim and priority"
(LSC, 2006)
One of the action points of the Learning for
Living and Work strategy was the development of a cross-departmental
strategy between the three Departments most closely involved in
this area: Education and Skills, Health, and Work and Pensions.
Our staff contributed to this development which resulted in launch
of: Progression through Partnership: A Joint Strategy between
the DIUS (formerly) DfES, DOH and DWP on the role of Further Education
and Training in Supporting People with learning Difficulties and/or
Disabilities to Achieve Fulfilling Lives (June 2007)
NIACE welcomed this strategy, believing that
it should take forward joint policy development; person-centred
planning and the improvement of workforce capacity and performance.
NIACE anticipates involvement in supporting the work to develop
a delivery plan for the planned "Programme of Change".
OUR CONCERNS
In the UK a person with a learning difficulty
has a slim chance of receiving high-quality post-16 education
and training provision taught by an adequately qualified and experienced
workforce. Good practice exists but it is rare and patchy. People
with learning difficulties are frequently on courses or training
which have a vocational focus but rarely are they supported to
make a transition to work. The transition from school to college
for people with learning difficulties is particularly poorly supported.
The curriculum choice on offer to people with learning difficulties
is increasingly narrow with a focus on literacy and numeracy at
the expense of opportunities to develop skills for self expression,
choice making and self-determination. Such skills are essential
to individuals leading a fulfilling life. There is evidence that
existing provision will shrink due to wider cuts in services.
Rather than improving poor quality courses, it appears that providers
are cutting courses leaving people with learning difficulties
with no choice or no provision.
QUALITY AND
ACCESS—THE
LEARNER VOICE
NIACE has undertaken two consultations (2004,
2006) with people with learning difficulties about learning and
the education they receive. The findings highlighted some key
messages from learners:
1. They wanted learning to help them move
on in life, particularly into work—mainstream education
and job centres were not doing enough.
2. They wanted to be able to choose from
the whole curriculum offer and not just provision specifically
for people with learning difficulties.
3. There was a sense that very often all
that was on offer in discrete provision was "reading, writing
and numbers".
4. Courses were too expensive and they needed
support to help pay.
5. Transport should be reliable, accessible
and affordable.
6. Some staff appear to have had minimal
training in working with people with learning disabilities.
The issues highlighted by learners have been
consistent over a period of seven years. They overlap strongly
with recent findings of Inspections of post-16 provision and research
of post-16 education and training. None of these issues are new
yet there is a sense in the field that progress in tackling them
is not seen as a priority or a mainstream quality issue but rather
as a specialist concern.
CUTS IN
PROVISION
There have been substantial cuts in post-16
education provision in 2006-07. Although spending has risen about
one million places have been lost since 2005. Information from
providers and learners indicated that this was affecting learners
with learning disabilities disproportionately. The cuts were due
to providers being required to prioritise spending upon basic
literacy, language and numeracy and provision leading to qualifications
and level 2 targets.1 In response to concerns voiced the Learning
and Skills Council undertook out a survey which found that 3,000
of a total of 20,000 students with learning disabilities had lost
their places as a consequence of this policy.2 The justification
for this was reported as being due largely to provision concerned
being of poor quality. NIACE suggests that rather than cutting
poor provision, a more appropriate response should have been to
support providers to improve the quality of the provision.
QUALITY
The quality of teaching and learning support
support for people with learning difficulties is patchy and, on
occasion, poor. A recent OFSTED report (January 2007)3 found that
the quality of the provision in 22 colleges surveyed was very
uneven. NIACE's work consistently supports this finding on a national
scale. There are pockets of good practice but also many gaps in
provision and examples of poor quality services. Recent research
has highlighted that provision for people with learning difficulties
who come from minority ethnic communities and who have English
as a second language is particularly scarce and under developed.4
At present it appears that people with learning disabilities cannot
be assured either of comparable levels of quality or levels of
qualtity (choice) in contrast to other learners in the UK.
TRANSPORT
Most people with learning disabilities rely
on transport in order to get to their place of learning. Inadequate
transport or support to travel and opportunities learn how to
be an independent traveller, can often mean no or severely restricted
participation in education and training for people with learning
disabilities. Barriers that people with learning disabilities
face when travelling to their college include: public or contracted
transport which is not reliable or easily accessible; travel information
that is not accessible to people with learning disabilities; problems
with funding and paying for transport. Transport is crucial for
to the social inclusion of people with learning disabilities.
TRANSITION
The two key transition points for people with
learning disabilities in education are the transition from school
to college and the progression from college to work and/or fulfilling
lives in the community. The planning and support for both of these
transition points is recognised to be problematic for people with
learning disabilities. Effective transition is supported by person-centred
planning and approaches; based on learners' hopes and aspirations.
This will support learners to participate in meaningful programmes
of learning if there is enough flexibility allowed in the funding
of provision. This in turn will lessen the possibility of them
becoming part of the "revolving door" syndrome, whereby
learners returning to the same provider year after year with very
little thought given as to how their learning can support them
with progression. Effective transition is essential to meaningful
progression. Much work remains to be done here and key to this
a multi-agency approach to planning and funding of services as
well as increased awareness of person-centred planning and approaches
in education.
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
There is currently a lack of appropriate qualifications
for staff working with learners with learning difficulties and/or
disabilities. Having a poorly trained workforce will of course
impact on the quality of provision. Staff working in this area
often report that they feel isolated and that their work is not
valued by other colleagues and managers. This isolation of staff
and learners is exacerbated by a common situation in colleges
where people with learning disabilities are being taught in segregated
or discrete provision, often to the exclusion of them being able
to chose to join mainstream classes. The sector skills council,
Life Long Learning UK is currently developing some qualifications
for teachers working in this area. NIACE will watch with interest
as workforce development was one of the recommendations in LSC
Learning for Living and Work strategy.
Can the Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities promote the rights of adults with learning disabilities?
NIACE welcomes the UN Convention on the Rights
of People with Disabilities. NIACE endorses wholeheartedly Article
24 on Education. Education should be fully inclusive. Disabled
people should be able to access education, training and lifelong
learning without discrimination and on an equal basis with others.
CONCLUSION
NIACE would welcome the opportunity to provide
the Committee with any further information or comment as it requires.
In the first instance, please contact Yola Jacobsen.
REFERENCES
1. "The wrong sort of learners". "Guardian
article, 25 July 2006.
2. They're calling my son ineducable" Guardian
5 February 2007.
3. Current provision and outcomes for 16-18-year-old
learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities in colleges.
OFSTED, 2007.
4. Making It Happen: An inclusive approach to
working withpeople with learning difficulties who have ESOL needs.
(DfES, 2006).
24 July 2007
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