Report to the People
Learning in 2002
The making of New Year’s resolutions can, according to some, lead to depression – especially for tobacconists, bakers and publicans.
But asides from those whose pockets are affected by the puritanical zeal we embrace in the first fortnight of January, those of us who decide to suddenly adopt the lifestyle of a monk in the middle of winter are understandably left feeling a bit gloomy too.
Of course, as I have said before in this column, improving our diet, drinking responsibly and stopping smoking is crucially important. It does, however, require a great deal of effort. And deciding to do it all in one go, at a time of year when it’s freezing cold, dark, and generally miserable, does not give you the best chance of success.
That’s why, rather than making negative resolutions about what I won’t do, I find it more rewarding to adopt more positive ones about what I will do.
If you share this view, then you may well have resolved that 2002 will be the year in which you learn a new skill. If so, there is good news.
Voluntary organisations working to deliver lifelong learning, such as the Workers Educational Association and Learning Link Scotland, will share in a £470,000 funding package being made available by the Scottish Parliament.
Training and education are not areas you might immediately associate with the voluntary or community sector. But these organisations are, as Minister for Lifelong Learning, Wendy Alexander, made clear last week, carrying out valuable work in providing adult education - as we in Greenock are well aware, through the work done by Second Chance Learning and the Craigend Resource Centre.
And, on a national level, the Workers Educational Association, which provides community based adult learning for those with few or no formal qualifications, last year offered classes in over 200 localities and has an average annual course enrolment of around 14,000.
Other key projects include those run in the workplace by trade unions to remove the choice between earning and learning. Under the funding package, the STUC will receive a grant to help these projects improve the skills of employees, broaden the knowledge base of workplace representatives and focus on the needs of vulnerable workers.
Groups and projects such as these play a key role in working to give everyone in our society the chance to realise their full potential. These grants will help them to further widen access to education and engage with those least likely to grasp the opportunities education has to offer.
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