On Wednesday 17 October Ulster People’s College’s Director, Johnston Price, made a joint presentation to the Department of Employment and Learning Committee at Stormont, with Stevie Johnston of WEA and Eileen Kelly of EGSA. 

All 3 organisations are concerned that the intended restructuring of support for adult education in Northern Ireland, being planned as part of the re-organization of the Further Education Colleges, will result in a catastrophic reduction in the number of adults participating in learning in Northern Ireland. 

In England and Wales NIACE (National Institute of Adult Continuing Education) figures indicate that within the last two years a million adults have been lost from adult education as a result of changes in the public sector funding of adult education.  These changes have been driven by a narrow focus on the skills agenda linked to the immediate needs of the economy with little or no attention paid to the wider social (and economic) benefits of learning.  There is a real danger that Northern Ireland is about to experience a similar massive reduction in levels of adult learning.

To view the information presented to DEL click here.