UKTP.net

The independent Inquiry into Adult and Youth Literacy in England - Lifelong Literacy: In, Out and Beyond Work - will be launched in London, on International Literacy Day, 8 September 2010. It will be led by Lord Boswell, a former Conservative education minister and long-standing supporter of adult learning.

The Inquiry, which has already received positive coverage in today's Times Educational Supplement, will focus on the following questions on adult literacy:

• Where are we now? What has been achieved? What business remains unfinished and who has been left out, or served least well, by the policies and practices of the last decade?

Museums, libraries and archives play a crucial part in opening up learning opportunities for adults, but there are still many more ways that they can continue to contribute to healthier and happier communities. The two papers published today by NIACE and the MLA, outline their contribution and examine ways of enhancing it.

How museums, libraries and archives contribute to lifelong learning - a supplementary paper to the independent Inquiry into the Future for Lifelong Learning - outlines how museums, libraries and archives have widened participation in recent years and how they have brought people together and bridged gaps between generations.

In an interview with NIACE, Danny West speaks openly about being one of the first people in the UK to be diagnosed as HIV positive in 1985 and how he used learning to transform his life.

At 48 he is a successful businessman and has had his learning achievements recognised with the National Learning Works Award - sponsored by the European Social Fund (ESF) - as part of Adult Learners' Week 2009.

Following his diagnosis Danny spent a number of years working in the new and evolving UK HIV charities - such as London Lighthouse and Body Positive. However, he was forced to give up work and lived on benefits for 14 years.

Welcoming Skills Minister John Hayes' call to promote informal learning at work, NIACE Deputy Chief Executive, Peter Lavender, said:

"NIACE considers this an important public statement of confidence in informal learning in the workplace. Our series of studies in participation in education and training show a consistent thread: most people say they do most of their learning in relation to work."

Lifelong learning supports a range if public policy priorities, particularly in the areas of health, social mobility, equalities, ageing demographics, employability, international development and sustainability. By responding to consultations and calls for evidence issued by Government departments, committees, enquiries and other organisations, NIACE keeps adult learning on the agenda of policy and decision makers.

Currently NIACE is drafting responses to the ten consultations below. Colleagues are invited to comment on NIACE's draft papers and to share their own responses, by emailing jenny.sherrard@niace.org.uk.

Achievement rates across the Armed Services are higher than the national average, reports a summary of research into the impact of basic skills provision in the three Services.

The research has also found that the substantial infrastructure of basic skills support and provision is improving educational aspirations, delivering more qualifications and increasing confidence for personnel.

The Armed Forces Basic Skills Longitudinal Study Stage 1 summary, the first stage of a three-part research, also shows that:

The Equality Act - coming into force in October 2010 and replacing the Disability Discrimination Act - creates a piece of anti-discrimination legislation across eight ‘protected characteristics', including disability. The Act brings in a number of new forms of protection for disabled people and strengthens the existing duty to make reasonable adjustments.

To help learning and skills providers working with disabled learners and carers understand the implications of the Act, NIACE and Skill are running joint briefing seminars - Disability and the Equality Act 2010 - in Leeds, London and Leicester in September.

Taking up learning this September can give adults a better chance of keeping their job or starting a new career or business. Sign Up Now is encouraging all adults to sign up to learning and see how it can transform their lives for the better.

The Gurkha Resettlement Education and Adult Learning project - funded by the European Integration Fund (EIF) - will be managed by NIACE who will work with Greenwich Community College, Barnet College, Coleg Powys, the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA) and the Gurkha Welfare Trust.

Alongside retired Gurkhas and their families being encouraged to take up ESOL courses, NIACE will conduct a national research project to determine the language needs of, and the existing ESOL provision for, the Gurkha community. This will be the first research of its kind.

In its Tax Relief for Training paper submitted for the Spending Review, NIACE states that current policy on tax relief for training could be more equitable and is not yet delivering best value to Government.

NIACE is also concerned that no conditions are attached to the granting of tax relief and that employers do not have to account for how, on what and upon whom it is spent.

As reported in last Friday's Times Educational Supplement (6 August 2010), Alan Tuckett, Chief Executive of NIACE, said: