Home > News > May 2005 > 27-May-2005

Mixed messages on participation in learning by adults, says report

According to the annual Adult Learners’ Week survey of adults taking part in learning, the decline in the number of adults participating in learning reported in 2003 and 2004 has been reversed with the overall participation rate up to 42% from 38% last year. However the survey reports that the number of current learners is now 4% below the 1996 figure.

The survey, commissioned by the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE), also found that professional and managerial groups (56%) are twice as likely to participate as unskilled and unwaged groups (26%). The participation of skilled workers is 40% up from 32% in 2004.

As in previous years the age divide in participation is clearly shown, with a marked drop for people over-55 (22%). NIACE say that this is worrying news given the demographic change facing the UK. A reduction in the number of young people means they can fill only one in three vacancies for new and replacement jobs over the next decade. The other places will need to be filled by people currently outside the labour force, and by older people taking on new roles. On the evidence of this survey, these are the groups least likely to participate in learning.

Alan Tuckett, Director of NIACE and co-author of the report, said, "The results of this survey present some comfort for the Government but also a real challenge in securing a step-change in participation.

"The reverse in the decline in participation is welcome, but we will need to take active measures to sustain it. The current economic pressures on publicly funded adult learning opportunities make it likely that this trend will be difficult to reverse in the next three years. Yet the economic and social case for adult learning has never been more persuasive.

"Adults need an education and training system generous enough in its range and reach to overcome the learning divide, to support a learning culture accessible to all the communities that make up our society. That implies sustained public investment. It also implies that all employers need to recognise that training and development are a necessity, and that significant investment is required for the development of their workforce. And it implies a larger fee contribution from the individuals who can afford it. It needs a shared belief that learning is lifelong, lifewide and is everybody’s right."

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