Agenda item

(1)       Mr Forward presented a report which informed Members that the 2008/09 Adult Education course programme was in the final phase of completion and final decisions on individual course fees were being taken.  Circulated at the meeting was a progress report on business development. 

(2)       Mr Forward reminded Members that over the past three years course prices paid by users had risen by an average of 45%.  In the current academic year 2007/08 enrolments had failed to match expectations and at the end of the programme year as at 31 July there was an anticipated fall in student numbers of approximately 500 compared with 2006/07 figures.  There were a number of reasons for this shortfall which appeared to be a national trend.

(3)       In order to deliver the £250,000 increase in income described in the medium term plan this service has devised a strategy to revise the decline in participation and achieve the income target and the ways of doing this were set out in the report and further explained to Members.  Also in the report were details of the concessions available. 

(4)       Members asked a number of questions and made comments to Officers which included the following:

·        The importance of ensuring that those who needed to make up for deficiencies in learning from school could do so via Adult Education, and that the fees were not prohibitive, was emphasised.  Members were reminded of the concessions available to ensure that people on low income had access to programmes.  Although Kent’s fees are high the policy for people on low incomes was amongst the most liberal and generous.  It was also pointed out that Kent was very successful in encouraging people who were anxious about participating in adult education and learning.

·        The title ‘Adult Education’ was raised and the need to looking at changing the name was acknowledged by Officers. 

·        A Member stated that there was a shortage of sign language interpreters and maybe this was something that the adult education could help to address.  In relation to sign language it was pointed out that there were 15 courses for this around the County.   Another Member suggested that maybe this was something that young people could be encouraged to engage with.

·        The issue of older people needing to remain in the workplace or to return to the workplace to supplement their pension was raised and the need to ensure that courses exist to provide them with suitable skills. 

·        The issue of making sure that Adult Education courses were accessible for older adults and especially that they formed a part of a strategy to assist with dementia was raised.  Also, the importance of engaging with people who had influence over the older persons’ services was mentioned.  Officers stated that 48% of all adult education learners were over 60.  One of the reasons for this was the universal concessions policy.  Officers were also aware of the importance of the value of education in the public health agenda and were looking to target older learners.

·        The importance of providing Adult Education services accessible to those with learning disabilities and the courses that they would be interested in was mentioned.  It was pointed out by officers that some of these courses were funded by the Learning and Skills Council.  This was an area of concern for Officers as they did not know whether these courses would be able to continue if they were not funded by the Learning and Skills Council.

          ·     Members stated that often courses were run for subjects that were recreational.  However, Officers stated that with a large number of courses such as Floral Art , the majority of people attending  wanted to run small businesses or supplement their income by learning this skill and it was a minority who were doing this purely for recreation.  Mr Forward stated that one of the strengths of the Local Authority Adult Education Services was that it was able to meet a variety of needs within the same course.

          ·     A Member expressed the view that consideration should be given to reducing fees to increase yield and that a judgement should be taken on what it was reasonable to charge.

          ·     The importance of having courses such as History of Art to complement Turner Contemporary was mentioned and the possibility of running these courses within Turner Contemporary was discussed.

          ·     The good work being done in Adult Education to encourage older people, who did not achieve during their formal education, to make up for this by taking Adult Education courses was acknowledged.  The role and importance of learning champions and sharing personal experiences were mentioned.

          ·     In response to a suggestion that Adult Education should build upon the current interest in gardening/allotments and cookery, the officer stated that this need tended to be addressed though television programmes.

          ·     Another area of interest to the public as demonstrated by popular television programmes was dancing and it was confirmed that there were a number of courses available.

          ·     Also mentioned was growing interest in creative crafts and there were relevant courses in the Adult Education programme

          ·     It was suggested that use could be made of the internet to deliver Adult Education on line.  The Officers stated that what tended to happen was blended learning so that people came along to an Adult Education course and then practiced outside the course using websites.  There was also the opportunity to talk to others on message boards.

          ·     A Member suggested that there could be more integration between Adult Education and schools and that programmes could be run within the school.  The Officer stated that this had been successfully trialled in Canterbury where a programme of curriculum enhancement had been designed.  It was hoped that this could be extended to other areas.

(5)     RESOLVED that the approach to pricing of courses, the management of fee levels and the comments made by Members be noted.