![\"\"](\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Free-College19.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner has performed a miracle \u2013 she has managed to get journalists and politicians talking about the need for adult education. Her\u00a0passionate speech<\/a>\u00a0in Blackpool, and interview on the BBC\u2019s\u00a0Today programme<\/a>, asserted Labour\u2019s plans for a radical expansion of lifelong learning. In doing so, she stimulated national interest in an educational policy area that has been neglected for too long.<\/p>\n The number of adults achieving a qualification in English or Maths\u00a0dropped by 25%<\/a>\u00a0in 2017\/18. The number of adults currently learning at all is at its\u00a0lowest point<\/a>\u00a0since 1996. Spending on adult education has been slashed by\u00a045%<\/a>\u00a0since 2009\/10.<\/p>\n In England, under the current higher education tuition fee loan system, adult learners are disproportionately likely to be studying part-time \u2013 and part-time numbers have\u00a0dropped by 61%<\/a>\u00a0since 2010, plummeting from 40% to 20% of those in higher education. The Sutton Trust claims\u00a040,000<\/a>\u00a0potential part-time learners \u2013 essentially a proxy for adults \u2013 have been lost from higher education since 2012.<\/p>\n The decline can be traced back to the impact of the regulatory change instigated by tightening access to\u00a0Equivalent Level Qualifications<\/a>\u00a0(for those learners, inevitably adults, studying a qualification at the same or a lower level to one they already hold) by New Labour in 2008-9 and was exacerbated by the steep rise in tuition fees in England introduced by the coalition government in 2012-13. As a result, fewer adults are accessing the transformative potential of learning, and are missing out on enhanced job opportunities, confidence-boosting and well-being. The nation suffers from a more disengaged population.<\/p>\n My research<\/a>\u00a0interviewing adult learners studying part-time suggests a diverse group with some shared characteristics. Many missed out at 18 due to \u201clife disruptions\u201d; many perceived the costs associated with higher education in England a significant disincentive; many found existing provision insufficiently flexible; many take a slow, non-linear trajectory through education as \u201clife gets in the way\u201d; many experience \u201cimposter syndrome\u201d. But crucially, many regret missing out earlier.<\/p>\n There can be no denying adult access to education is in a dire state, starved of funding and inaccessible to many potential learners. The long-running financial squeeze on adult education is outrageous. Just contrast the\u00a0millions<\/a>\u00a0spent by universities on widening participation activities aimed at school pupils. This lack of emphasis on adult learning is also politically and economically unsustainable: there are\u00a0insufficient<\/a>\u00a018-year-olds to undertake the \u201cdigitally-savvy\u201d jobs required in the near future.<\/p>\n Introducing proposals to \u201cthrow open the doors\u201d to adult learners, whether they want to change career, are made redundant or didn\u2019t get the qualifications they needed when younger, Labour has offered the guarantee for every adult to study and retrain throughout their lives via a six-year free entitlement. This would mean any adult without A-levels or equivalent would be able to study for free at college, with maintenance grants available for those on low incomes.<\/p>\n The party has also stressed the importance of vocational as well as academic education, calling for skills and vocational qualifications to be valued the same as university degrees.<\/p>\n I see education like an escalator running alongside you throughout life, that you can get on and off whenever you want.<\/p>\n That’s why I\u2019d rather give a break to the worker who wants to learn, than a tax break to the billionaire who wants for nothing.<\/p>\n \u2014 Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) November 12, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\nLife gets in the way<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n