UCU: Adult education

Motion

Motion text: FE Sector Conference:
– notes the great value of Adult Education;
– believes that AE should be a public sector facility that caters for all the learning needs of its local communities;
– deplores the way in which almost all the education of adults is now tied to vocational qualifications making it very difficult and/or expensive to find classes purely for leisure;
– recognises that attending a leisure class may lead students to continue to a vocational course, change careers, gain confidence (particularly those with emotional and mental health difficulties) and help older adults stay fit and well.
– believes that post-16 institutions should not be crude 'skills factories' but institutions which have high quality teaching and learning at their core offering a wide range of curricula that is accessible to all local adults at an affordable cost.

FE Sector Conference calls on the NEC to escalate its campaign for improvements in AE and challenge the government's narrow definition of informal learning.