ADULT LEARNING: IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO
LEARN (14600/06)
Letter from the Chairman to Bill Rammell
MP, Minister for Life-long Learning, Further and Higher Eduction,
Department for Education and Skills
Thank you for your Explanatory Memorandum of
November. This was considered by Sub-Committee G at its meeting
on 11 January.
We share the Government's view of the importance
of adult learning. We also view the Commission Communication as
useful as a basis for discussion of means to improve adult learning
across the EU and for the development of an action plan to achieve
this.
We note that the report by Lord Leitch "Prosperity
for all in the Global Economy: World Class Skills", published
on 5 December, has some powerful messages about the desirable
future direction of training provision in the UK, including that
for adults.
In particular, we see as relevant to the issue
of adult learning, the statistics, reported in 5 December 2006
Treasury Press Release that announced Lord Leitch's report, that
5 million adults in the UK lack functional literacy and that 17
million have difficulty with numbers. While you report in your
Explanatory Memorandum that UK participation in adult learning
is 29%, it may be that this is not for the most part in the type
of learning activities that can help to improve the relatively
poor level of low and intermediate skills possessed by many adults
in the UK.
We would be grateful therefore if you could
let us have some information about how the Government's input
to the development of the Commission's Action Plan for adult learning
is likely to be influenced by the recommendations of the Leitch
review.
It would also be helpful if you could let us
have some information about how the overall figure of 29% participation
in adult training in the UK is made up in terms of participation
in different types of training, including those which address
low and intermediate skills needs.
Pending our consideration of this further information
we will retain this document under scrutiny.
11 January 2007
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