Literacy sector fears funding may contract

Government funding of programmes to improve adult literacy levels had increased 18-fold in less than a decade, but many practitioners in the area feared the bubble might be about to burst, an Oireachtas committee was told yesterday.

The director of the National Adult Literacy Agency, Ms Inez Bailey, told the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Science that the numbers participating in adult literacy services had risen to more than 30,000 in recent years following increased funding.

But she warned that the service faced many challenges ahead, including the sector's lack of a career structure which did not help to attract recruits.

Ms Bailey said the core adult literacy service was provided by local VECs in 135 locations around the State. Adult literacy organisers manage the service, working alongside paid group tutors and volunteer one-on-one tutors.

She told the committee that raising capacity was a difficult task facing the adult literacy service.

"Each local VEC needs to develop the local infrastructure. There is a shortage of existing premises for adult learners and the national capital budget made available to the VECs does not cover expenses. VECs are seeking local solutions with the emphasis on greater utilisation of all local public premises; however these facilities are often temporary and do not meet ideal standards."

She said most services offered classes on a basis of two hours per week, but this was often insufficient. VECs needed to provide weekend and summer classes, but traditionally literacy services closed completely for three months over the summer.

The adult literacy service also needed to review how it provided services, she said. Most VECs provided classes in cities and towns, and there had been little exploration of how services could be expanded to support those studying alone.

Ms Bailey said adult literacy organisers had established their own association so they could join a trade union to negotiate for better pay and conditions at a time of mass expansion.

"In a climate of relatively low unemployment and high inflation, it remains difficult to recruit and retain staff - paid and voluntary - pending the development of attractive career structures and better employment conditions, and joining trade unions has not greatly enhanced the career structure for adult education practitioners," she told the committee.

Ms Bailey said adult literacy had become the priority in national policy on further education after a highly critical report in 1997 showed that more than half of those aged 16 to 64 were below the minimum literacy threshold desirable in a western industrialised nation.

She added, however, that many adult literacy practitioners feared their short spell in the political limelight could soon be over, and the funding bubble could be about to burst.