£12m for educational schemes in Wales

Coleg Gwent, Ebbw Vale Campus

By Katie Norman, Western Mail 09.07.09

MORE than £12m of funding has been allocated to education programmes in Wales.

The funding, announced by Education Minister Jane Hutt, is part of £40m for capital expenditure to provide an economic stimulus to help people, communities and businesses in the recession.

The money includes £4.5m for a new facility called The Learning Zone on the site of the Corus steelworks in Ebbw Vale, which will offer post-16 education in place of Coleg Gwent’s existing Ebbw Vale campus.

A further £1.8m has been allocated to the new Energy and Fabrication Centre on Coleg Menai’s Llangefni campus in Anglesey. The facility aims to equip people with work skills such as those needed for the decommissioning of the island’s Wylfa Power Station.

Design and planning work for further educational projects across Wales, as part of the Assembly Government’s Transformation agenda for further education, will receive £5.9m.

Deputy Minister for Skills John Griffiths said: “We are in the process of modernising post-16 education as part of our Transformation agenda.

“We want to provide learners with more choice and access while ensuring that the quality of education on offer is first class.

“This significant funding will be key to us securing the infrastructure to achieve that goal.”

Ms Hutt said the money would kick-start a number of initiatives in partnership with Barry College, Coleg Glan Hafren, Coleg Llandrillo, Coleg Mierion- Dwyfor, Gorseinon College and Swansea College.

“This new capital funding will make a real difference to education in Wales,” she said.

Cuts: now Bridgend axes A-levels

Last month Bridgend College was forced to announce that it was to close it’s A-level provision in the college.  According to a Walesonline report, it will leave 42 students currently studying AS levels having to look for another college or sixth-form to complete their A-levels.

The background to the college being forced into this situation is WAG’s funding settlement which has left Bridgend College with an estimated £1 million shortfall.  16 lecturing jobs will also be lost.

A Facebook group has been set up by students and can be accessed here.

According to a spokesperson for the college:
“We have prioritised all of our full-time vocational programmes delivered in the main to ages 16-19 as well as a wide range of part-time skills programmes aimed at improving employability.”

Earlier this month, Peter Black, AM, used the situation of Bridgend College as well as the plight of Gorseinon and Swansea Colleges to launch a last ditch attempt for more money for further education colleges in Wales.

See also:
Walesonline: Bridgend College axes courses and jobs
by Andrew Harrison, Glamorgan Gazette, 14.05.09

A-levels: sat-nav for the mind

Centre-right think tank the Reform Group have just published a report on A-level exams entitled, “A New Level”.  The report is highly critical of the modular form of the exam which, it argues, has broken up the coherence of a course. As a result, A-levels fail to prepare students for the rigours of university life as they create an expectation of spoon-feeding.

The report was based on the views of academics in mathematics, history, chemistry and English.  It was a mathematics professor who came up with the sat-nav analogy:  Professor Bailey, professor of statistics at Queen Mary, London University, berated exams which gave hints and tips to jog students’ memories.  ”If you read a map to get from A to B, you remember the route and learn about other things on the way. If you use a sat-nav, you do neither of those things.”

The report is also highly critical of the new diplomas in England and also recommends that universities should have more imput into A-level exams.

Click here to read the Reform Group’s  report: “A new level”.

BBC Website: A-levels “too much like sat-nav”.

Guardian: “Sat-nav students” can’t think for themselves, says A-level study

RSC Wales Blog:  Christine Davies of the RSC Wales comments on this article.

FE in Wales: a brief history

Anyone needing a quick history of further education governance in Wales since incorporation could do a lot worse than look at John Graystone’s article in today’s Western Mail.  John Graystone, who is chief executive of fforwm, highlights the changes which have been imposed upon the sector since 1992.  As a result, FE in Wales can arguably be described as the most efficient public sector in Wales.

As well as describing the past and present, Mr. Graystone speculates on the near future of governance which comes under scrutiny this autumn.

Click here to read John Graystone’s full article.

Future plans for Welsh-medium education unveiled

The Welsh Assembly Government has just launched its first ever national Welsh-medium Education Strategy.  It involves the 14-19 agenda and specifically targets post-16 education.  Amongst its recommendations are:

Providing a national strategic direction in the planning of the provision of Welsh-medium education across all phases of education and training;

Ensuring that all pupils and students have the opportunity to develop their Welsh-language skills to their full potential as they move through the education system and supporting Welsh-medium provision as an integral part of the 14-19 Learning Pathways and Skills agenda.

Commenting on the strategy, Education minister Jane Hutt said:
“We want to provide more opportunities for students to use Welsh as a medium of learning after the age of 16 or 18,”.

“We also need to make sure that opportunities are available in response to the requirements of the Learning and Skills Measure for 14-19 Learning Pathways, and that we contribute to a bilingual workplace by making opportunities for learning Welsh more accessible.”

See BBC Website:  Welsh education strategy outlined

Click here for The Welsh-medium Education Strategy

College unions launch new blog

Unison and UCU, the two main unions at Gorseinon College have recently set up their own blog to keep members informed of current developments concerning the funding crisis in FE and the consequent proposed redundancies within the college. 

The blog records all the twists and turns in the funding story at the college and presents the case of both unions with refreshing honesty. 

Readers of this blog may remember that Gorseinon College unions were at the forefront in organising the protest at the Welsh Assembly last month.  The resulting u-turn by the Assembly on funding was a great victory for the unions.  However, Gorseinon College recieved nothing from the £8.9 million.  The blog documents the continuing struggle to avoid cuts in services and closure of an outreach centre.   As this blog was turning into a Gorseinon College funding blog I will refer most future developments to this blog.

Link: Gorseinon College UCU/Unison Blog

Anger as adult learning centre set to close

Click here for BBC coverage

Source:  South Wales Evening Post, 25.04.09

An adult learning centre which employs 15 people is to close.

Canolfan y Bont, in Pontarddulais, which is run by Gorseinon College, will no longer provide its popular classes for adults at the end of the academic year because of funding cuts.

Trade unions, centre users and townsfolk are deeply unhappy at the move. Town councillor David Beynon, who attended computer classes at the centre, said: “Around 300 students use the Canolfan y Bont. It is invaluable to our community, so everyone in the town is incensed that it is to shut.”

Canolfan y Bont has proved  a hit with residents since it opened in 2000.  It offered a range of courses from computer classes to language lessons.  However, courses will cease at the end of the academic year.

Town mayor Suzanne Burgess said the announcement was another big blow for the Bont: “We have been told we are to lose our leisure centre, and now this.  I am bitterly disappointed” she said.

Gorseinon College described the closure as regrettable and insisted it was not to blame.

Deputy principal Noreen Williamson said: “The centre has been funded through EU money, but that has come to an end. We hoped to obtain additional funding from the Assembly to minimise the knock-on effects, but that has not materialised. Our hands are tied unfortunately.  Everyone at the college is unhappy with the situation.”

Mrs Williamson  added they hoped to incorporate some staff from Canolfan y Bont to the college’s Belgrave Road campus, but admitted job losses would be inevitable unless funding came in at the 11th hour.

Trade union members staged a protes outside the Dulais Road facility yesterday, criticising the Assembly over the closure.   UCU rep Gavin Palmer said ” The Assembly has only restored some of the money taken from further education in Wales, when a cut of 7.43% was applied to the funding allocations for 2009/10.  But Gorseinon College received none of the additional funds.  Pontarddulais without Canolfan y Bont would be a much poorer community in all respects.”

The Assembly said the additional funding it issued to schools and colleges was a direct response to the economic downturn.  A spokeswoman said:
“Gorseinon has already seen an increase in its allocation when compared to the previous year, therefore it did not qualify for a share of the additional £8.93 million recently announced.  The Welsh European Funding Office has not received any applications for Convergence funding from Gorseinon College either as a lead sponsor or joint sponsor.”

Welsh colleges welcome Darling’s £38m

From FENews.co.uk, 23.04.09
Colleges in Wales have urged the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) to invest the £38 million, which was singled out in yesterday’s Budget for Wales’ colleges, in catering for the soaring demand for post-16 education and training.  In his 2009 Budget, Chancellor Alistair Darling pledged 250 million this year and £400 million in 2010/11 for an additional 54,000 places in sixth forms and further education colleges, with consequential provisions for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

fforwm, which represents all 25 FE colleges and institutions in Wales, welcomed the UK Government’s commitment to investing in the sector, and said the move would aid recession-battling efforts.

Dr John Graystone, the chief executive of fforwm, said: “In Wales, further education colleges suffer under-investment compared to the rest of the UK, as reported in a WAG-commissioned independent review of further education. Indeed, WAG Ministers have themselves acknowledged that allocations to colleges in Wales have been tight and challenging over the last couple of years.

“An injection of £38 million into post-16 education and training in Wales could make a real difference to colleges and their learners, communities, companies and the workforce.

“fforwm very much hopes that the Welsh Assembly Government will use this money to build on the additional funding to colleges announced last week to ensure that it leads Wales out of recession by developing the skills of its people.”

£8.9m for Further Education in Wales

Deputy Minister for Skills John Griffiths today announced an additional £8.93 million for Further Education Institutions (FEIs) and sixth forms.

The funding is in direct response to the economic downturn to support those colleges and local authorities in the post-16 sector most affected by the recent budget settlement. The effect of this additional allocation is that, in almost every case, FEIs and local authority sixth form provision will be funded at or above the same level for 09/10 as they were for 08/09.

With the economic downturn being likely to lead to an increase in demand for post-16 training and adult training places, the extra support will provide funding for at least a further 2,500 places for young people and adults at FE institutions and school sixth forms.

Announcing the funding John Griffiths said:

A difficult budget settlement this year has meant having to make difficult choices and the Assembly Government has worked closely with the sector to provide as much assistance as possible in what have been and continue to be challenging times.

We have listened to the concerns of the sector and the issues they face in light of the recession. The government has responded swiftly and positively and remains committed to supporting FE so that they can deliver the necessary training in readiness for the upturn when it comes.

Assembly in U-turn over funding axe

By Shaun Greaney, South Wales Evening Post, 9^th April 2009

A dramatic college funding U-turn may save up to 89 threatened jobs.                    

Cutbacks had meant that 62 lecturers and 27 support staff at Coleg Sir Gar had been threatened with the loss of jobs.

But now, following protests on the steps of the Assembly, some of the jobs will be saved after the Assembly confirmed extra cash was being freed up.

The decision could also have an impact on colleges in Neath Port Talbot and Swansea.

Swansea College and Gorseinon College confirmed last month that long-time talk of a merger was now going to happen and that the then proposed, Assembly cuts could have a further impact.

But what effect the Assembly funding U-turn will have will not become totally clear until after Easter when a full statement is made.  Llanelli AM Helen Mary Jones welcomed the news of a change of heart and claimed the funding cuts had been “fully reversed”.  She said that there had been an announcement of more funding for sixth forms and further education colleges at the fifth All-Wales Economic Summit.  The summit in Swansea was hosted by First Minister Rhodri Morgan, Deputy First Minister and Plaid leader Ieuan Wyn Jones and Welsh Secretary Paul Murphy.

They announced spending plans aimed at helping ease the recession, including extra cash for education.

Ms Jones said: “I am really pleased the Government has reconsidered the proposed cuts to further education and sixth form colleges.

“It is a real tribute to the hard work and campaigning of staff and students who highlighted the practical problems that the cuts would have led to.

“I am looking forward to seeing next week exactly how that will impact on our college here, but initial discussions that I’ve had with senior management suggests that all the seven per cent cut will be restored.”

Some 89 job losses had been expected in July due to an Assembly funding cut if £1.2 million, which has contributed to a cash shortfall of £1.9 million for 2009/10

Coleg Sir Gar Principal Brian Robinson said “Basically, what we have been saying to the staff now is whatever additional funding we get we will set it directly against the savings that we were going to have to make, and inevitably that will result in fewer redundancies.”

Union spokeswoman at Coleg Sir Gar, Judith Williams said: “The union has asked for a moratorium on redundancies until the college gets the full picture and then we will go back round the negotiating table to see what needs to be done from there.”

An Assembly spokesman said: “We will make an announcement after Easter on a package of measures to support post-16 learning and enhance skills of those entering employment or looking for work.”

See also: Western Mail Report – “Wales all set for major training initiatives”