Memorandum 33
Submission from the English Association
The English Association (EA) wishes to express
deep concern at the Government's refusal to reconsider its decision
to withdraw funding from qualified students who choose to take
additional Higher Education courses that lead to equivalent or
lower qualifications (ELQs).
1. This decision, the impact of which will
start to be felt almost at once, threatens to undermine the whole
structure of part-time higher education in England and Wales.
Its effects will be damaging across the sector. While the threats
to institutions such as The Open University and Birkbeck College
have been clearly signalled, other universities who provide pathways
into HE for adult learners and returners will also be badly affected
and the proposed transitional funding support will be quite insufficient
to prevent this damage.
2. The survival of Institutes and Departments
of Continuing Education across the country is now in question;
so is the survival of the local centres these Institutes and Departments
support in the regions they serve. Such centres are often in areas
of social or urban deprivation and their students are frequently
vulnerable: the loss of these centres will make it even harder
for students to gain first-time access to higher education—the
very principle used by Ministers to justify their decision to
divert £100 million of funding away from ELQ courses.
3. Damage on this scale to the infrastructure
of part-time higher education will have serious implications for
the Arts and Humanities in general and for English in particular.
Studying subject areas which are not directly vocational can be
too easily and cynically dismissed as a leisure activity or "lifestyle
learning". However, enabling students of all ages and circumstances
to develop greater cultural, social and linguistic awareness benefits
everyone in ways well understood by the public but apparently
undervalued by the Government.
4. Indeed, the impact of this new policy
on the teaching of English will also be felt more widely than
in the higher education sector itself. While the degree study
of English is not a professional qualification in its own right,
it attracts a significant number of mature students who wish to
acquire new discipline knowledge and then retrain to enter the
teaching profession. The nation recognizes the importance of encouraging
knowledgeable teachers of English with a sound basis in the subject,
not just in pedagogical practice. The Association deplores a policy
which works against this principle. The new plan seems set to
exclude mature students—and particularly women who often
select English as their subject base when planning to enter teaching
after a career break—from one of the most important disciplines
in the curriculum at every educational level. The decision of
the Government about ELQs contradicts other government policies
and initiatives that underline the importance of English and that
specifically encourage individuals to retrain and become part
of a highly qualified and enthusiastic teaching profession that
can make a real difference to future generations.
5. The English Association counsels the
Government not to assume that the outcome of the Commons Debate
of 8th January means it has won the argument about ELQs. The EA
joins other professional associations in urging Ministers to admit
the damaging, unintended consequences of this policy decision,
announced without any prior consultation. It asks the Department
for Innovation, Universities and Skills to demonstrate a renewed
commitment to providing opportunities for part-time teaching and
learning in the HE sector, and to reassert the importance of education
in the arts and humanities for society as a whole.
Professor Maureen Moran,
Brunel University, Chair, English Association Board
of Trustees
Professor Peter J. Kitson,
University of Dundee, President, English Association
Professor Norman Vance,
University of Sussex, Chair, English Association
Higher Education Committee
Adrian Barlow,
Madingley Hall, Cambridge, Member, English Association
Board of Trustees
Helen Lucas,
Chief Executive
The English Association was founded in 1906
to further knowledge, understanding and enjoyment of the English
language and its literatures and to foster good practice in its
teaching and learning at all levels. It is incorporated by Royal
Charter and is a registered Charity.
January 2008
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