What they need is adult education

Fireworks were foretold at Dublin Castle last week, but they failed to materialise. At the extended coffee break (due to Minister Willie O'Dea's late arrival), before the start of the National Forum on Adult Education, much of the muttering was about structures. These, everyone predicted, would be where the real contention would emerge. In the event, it wasn't until very late in the afternoon that the issue arose in the plenary discussion session - and then thanks only to the prompting of Olivia O'Leary, who chaired the proceedings.

The National Forum is the final element in the extensive consultation process that has taken place since the publication of the Green Paper last November. During the ensuing eight months the Department of Education and Science has held six regional public meetings, a process of written submissions and a series of oral presentations by over 70 national interest groups. The Green Paper proposes establishing a National Adult Learning Council and local adult education boards. The structure, states the Green Paper, "must include all the key stakeholders, if it is to succeed in developing a comprehensive and integrated approach".

According to Margaret Kelly, who is the Department of Education and Science's principal officer in the further education section, this consultation process has failed to throw up any consensus on mechanisms for hosting local boards. "The issue of structures didn't emerge as the key concern we thought it would," she says. "It crystallised into a pro-VEC - anti-VEC lobby." The VECs argue their case with considerable justification - they are after all, democratic, accountable, already operate ad hoc education committees and play a considerable role in adult education provision. But are they the best of all possible choices? "Structures need to recognise the principle of subsidiarity", warns Kevin Hurley of UCD's adult and continuing education department, "so that people who will most benefit can make an impact.

"The VECs may constitute a structure, but I am not sure that it is appropriate to repose all confidence in the VECs. They are one provider. The structure must be proofed against partiality to any single provider.

"To say the VECs should provide the structure is tantamount to saying the GAA should be in charge of the development of all sports in Ireland." "If you're talking about seeking equality between the partners, then there's a real problem in giving pre-eminence to one partner," adds Dr Tom Collins, of NUI Maynooth's Centre for Adult and Continuing Education.

Concerns have been expressed that, instead of coming down in favour of one group or another, the Green Paper fudged the issue of who should have ultimate control of adult education. All the indications are that the White Paper will be equally vague on this issue. This, however, may be no bad thing. Come January 2000, there will be a new set of players on the block.

Following recommendations in a report to the Department of the Environment and Local Government's by a task force on the integration of local government and local development systems (August 1998), County Development Boards (CDBs) are to be set up on the county and city local authorities.

The CDBs will comprise representatives of local government, local development, and the social partners including the community and voluntary sector and the state agencies. Directors of community and enterprise, who will support these boards, are in the process of being appointed. Their job will be to liaise with the different interest groups and co-ordinate the development of strategic plans for economic, social and cultural development. The deadline for these plans is January 2002.

It's likely that adult education will feature significantly in these plans. Indeed, the CDBs could provide an ideal vehicle for adult education structures. The lengthy consultation pro cess has elicited an "overwhelmingly positive response", Kelly confirms.

"The perception is that the major themes have been covered and no significant changes are being sought. However, greater elaboration and more detailed proposals and a commitment to investment will be necessary," she says.

Nonetheless, the consultations served to highlight a number of concerns, which Kelly promises, will be taken on board in the White Paper. The highly vocational nature of the Green Paper has been the butt of some criticism. "People feel that there is an inadequate focus on personal fulfilment, on liberal and arts education, on the joy of learning and on the centrality of arts in personal development," she explains. Some saw the pressing of economic buttons as deliberate, she says - to get support from the Department of Finance. However, "we mustn't lose sight of the fact that adult education is not just a narrow band of skills". There have been complaints, too, that statistical analysis only goes up to the age of 65 years. "The term lifelong is not confined to the work-related lifespan."

The Green Paper has also been accused of being "gender blind" in that it contains no statistical analysis by sex - instead the concentration is on the labour force in which women are under-represented. "The feedback also indicates that there is insufficient emphasis on Traveller participation and the need for an intercultural, anti-racist curriculum stressing a respect for diversity," Kelly says.

Concerns were also expressed that there was little mention of people with disabilities, prisoners, refugees, asylum-seekers. "We didn't produce the Green Paper in braille - it's something we should have done, but overlooked. The literacy needs of special needs people were not addressed. The message is that each group needs explicitly to name the barriers they face and develop strategies to deal with them."

The Irish language, too, is set to receive greater attention in the White Paper. The important role of community education is highlighted in the Green Paper. Groups, though, want community education directors to be appointed to facilitate and support the work of locally based community education groups.

They identify a need to maintain the role of community-based resource workers and to mainstream the assessment of community education which has been developed in the EU-funded NOW programme.

Funding is a major issue affecting all aspects of the Green Paper. The lack of transport, childcare and guidance are insurmountable barriers to many people who would like to participate in education.

Vital areas that have been chronically under-financed for years need support. Hundreds of groups around the State are struggling.

Then there's the vexed question of who should pay for work-based education - the employer or the State? The Green Paper remains largely silent on this.

It does, however, propose that investment in adult literacy be increased on a phased basis to a minimum of £10 million annually. Already, annual support in this area has risen to almost £6 million. The adult education sector would like to see the adult education budget reaching 10 per cent of the total education budget - £28 million per year. There's great concern that the huge expectation that has built up as a result of the Green Paper will turn sour if insufficient investment is made. "A lot of the issues (in the Green Paper) that need to be progressed have been submitted in our input to the National Development Plan," notes Kelly. "These negotiations are still under way. What's finally agreed will influence the content of initiatives that will appear in the White Paper.

"Adult education is underfunded, but the National Development Plan contains a specific sub-programme for promoting lifelong learning and the Government is committed to progress in this area. The question is how much?," she says.