New quality regime established for adult and community learning

Citation

(2002), "New quality regime established for adult and community learning", Education + Training, Vol. 44 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2002.00444bab.003

New quality regime established for adult and community learning

New quality regime established for adult and community learning

All adult and community learning funded by the Learning and Skills Council has been brought under new quality arrangements. The regime affects education provided directly by local education authorities or secured by them under contract from organizations such as colleges, adult-education centres, community groups and voluntary organizations. All local education authority adult and community-learning services will be inspected by the Adult Learning Inspectorate every four years. They will also produce annual self-assessment reports and development plans for their local Learning and Skills Council.

To support these services, the Learning and Skills Development Agency, in partnership with Niace, the national organization for adult learning, has set up a three-year adult and community learning quality-support programme. Funded by the Department for Education and Skills, it offers staff-development workshops, publications, quality-improvement networks, development projects, consultancy, information, advice, case studies and a Web site. Anna Reisenberger, Learning and Skills Development Agency manager of quality-improvement programmes, said: "Preparing for the new inspection regime offers a huge challenge for providers of adult education. They often work in community venues with hundreds of part-time tutors and thousands of part-time learners. There are a lot of good quality learning opportunities, but people have not had to prove this before. For many, self-assessment will be a new experience which may appear quite daunting. We can offer a full programme of support which will ease people through the process and get them ready for inspections and the regular Learning and Skills Council quality reviews". Annie Merton, NIACE development officer, commented: "The new arrangements present a real opportunity to build and strengthen adult-education programmes managed by local authorities".