Why the drop in adult learning? I'll tell you why!

08/04/2008

You say that there has been a drop in the number of adult learners (www.maturetimes.co.uk/node/5301). The drop has acutally been in the number of courses available to adult learners.
 
Courses which do not lead to a certificate of some sort are not funded and so courses which are not "accredited" have been severely cut and so arts and crafts courses and non-academic courses are no longer available.
 
This Government is concentrating on basic education for the 16 - 18 year olds - something which they should have received between the ages of 6 - 16 so they don't have the funding for the "mature" students.
 
I went to an very ordinary secondary modern school in the late 1940s and early 50s, and I received a very good education.
 
I have certificates for all the courses I have taken since I retired, but quite frankly, they are not worth the paper they are written on. It seems to me they are just an excuse to keep 'moderators' in employment.
 
R White, Liverpool