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Posts Tagged ‘ACE’

Education, education, we have lost our education

Posted by Maryan Street on December 9th, 2009

Prizes for those who recognise the Shakespearean derivation of the title of this blog – play, plus Act, Scene and line number would be really impressive!

The Education and Science Select Committee is going to hear my submission on the 53,000+ petitions seeking reinstatement of funding to Adult and Community Education delivered through high schools, aka night classes. That will happen next year now, probably in February, but certainly early on in the year. It is the biggest petition tabled in Parliament so far this term.

People shouldn’t give up on this issue. This is the moment right now when Ministers are haggling with the Minister of Finance about their budget bids for next year. Or they should be by now anyway. I’d be worried if they’re not. So here is an opportunity for people to urge Anne Tolley to reconsider her decision from last year and reinstate this comparatively squitty amount of money ($13 million) and save herself another year of protests, irritating questions in the House and bad press in every national, provincial and local newspaper in the country.

If you want some help in writing to her about this issue, click here. It ain’t over yet!

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Filed under: education
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Night classes and the value they bring

Posted by Chris Hipkins on November 8th, 2009

Last week I spent an evening visiting Heretaunga College night classes. When I organised a public meeting here in Upper Hutt some weeks ago many of the people who came along were keen for me to visit their classes so that I could see for myself what they were talking about. It was a real eye opener and upon leaving I was even more convinced that the National government’s decision to cut ACE funding is the wrong one.

The first course was an Intermediate Spreadsheets course. I spoke to just about every participant and they all had very good reasons for wanting to do the course, most of them were work-related. Interestingly, several were small business people who were trying to upskill. One guy I spoke to, a painter, told me that most of his customers now expect to get their quotes electronically. The old carbon copy quote book doesn’t cut it anymore, so he was doing the spreadsheet course so he could do email quotes.

The next one I visited was an Introduction to Computers course. Almost everyone there told me they were doing the course for work-related reasons, either so they could keep their job, get a better one, or in some cases, get off the benefit. Looking through their workbook I fail to see how anyone could argue that courses like this one don’t improve literacy and numeracy skills. They certainly aren’t hobby courses.

I visited a Day Skipper course for people who were interested in boating. Now this does fit the definition of a hobby course, but it’s actually providing a valuable public service. Which would you rather see the taxpayer subsidising, a cheap course or more search and rescue operations when amateur boaties get themselves into trouble?

My visits to a floral arranging course, a stained glass window course and a Spanish course all reinforced the tremendous social value night classes bring to the wider community. People felt connected to others. Several mums told me how important their one evening a week out of the house is for their mental health!

The National government have got this badly wrong. Bill English knows the value of night classes, when he was railing against CPIT and Te Wananga o Aotearoa (yes, remember that?) he went to great lengths to tell people National wouldn’t touch night class funding. So what’s changed Bill?

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Filed under: Skills, education
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Upper Hutt meeting on ACE

Posted by Chris Hipkins on September 11th, 2009

Last night we held a public meeting in Upper Hutt about the National government’s decision to axe funding for Adult and Community Education courses, including night classes. About 50 people came along to hear Maryan Street and Paul Quinn outline their respective party’s policy on the cuts. We then had an opportunity for questions and discussion.

I was really moved by some of the personal stories people shared, particularly the young woman who talked of how she had dropped out of school to train as a hairdresser. Unable to find work and feeling depressed, she signed up for a night class in cake decorating. She went on to win awards and has since been inundated with requests for her services. Anne Tolley refers to these kind of courses as ‘hobby’ courses, but for this young woman it was a step up to a job and she is now keen to take more courses and continue learning.

Many members of the same Spanish course attended the meeting and spoke of how much they valued their weekly classes. Some have been taking the class for many years and have built up a very strong bond with their fellow students. They regard each other as family and their weekly class has become and integral part of their world and helps them to feel connected to their community.

I’ve also had feedback from a recent widow who attended cooking courses after his wife passed away. His wife had previously done all the cooking and housework and he was left to fend for himself after she died. He got sick of eggs on toast and decided to do something about it. Not only did he learn to cook for himself, he also made new friends. It was an important part of his grieving process.

The total cost of these courses is about $13 million a year. Not a huge amount in the grand scheme of things, but the impact on the people who will be affected by these cuts will be huge. And before anyone says that they could chose to continue their classes by paying the full cost I’d point out that every secondary school in the Hutt Valley has indicated they’ll be axing all night classes from next year.

On a final note, I had to laugh when Paul Quinn pointed out that the new National government are spending $30 million upgrading Upper Hutt’s two state secondary schools and two intermediates. I think that’s a great investment, but isn’t it a shame those fantastic new facilities will be used less than 25% of the time. For three quarters of the time they will sit empty. All that money tied up in buildings that for the sake of a very small marginal cost could be used by a much wider group of people.

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Filed under: education
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A Sunday in Rimutaka

Posted by Raymond Huo on August 10th, 2009

Coming from Auckland, I have to admit I didn’t really know the difference between Lower and Upper Hutt – aside from the fact the two places lie ten minutes drive apart.But I was happy to learn more about Upper Hutt on Sunday when I was a guest, along with Dr Rajen Prasad, at Rimutaka MP Chris Hipkins’ Ethnic Communities function at Ascot Cinema.

When I think of the ethnic communities of Auckland, the Chinese, Korean and Croation communities spring to mind. In Rimutaka, I was pleased to meet migrants from Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Pakistan, Nigeria, Vietnam and also a Buddhist monk from Canada!

He is one of the spiritual leaders at the Bodhinyanarama Buddhist Monastery in Stokes Valley and practices a Thailand style Buddhism with a Canadian slant – talk about diverse.

A highlight of the day was Dr Rajen Prasad’s humorous speech which brought out many laughs from the big audience.

The National Government’s proposed slashing of Adult Community Education, has drawn a massive uproar from the public. Talkback has been flooded with phone calls, the inboxes of MPs have been clogged with emails and a fiery protest on the steps of Parliament last week showed just how passionate New Zealanders are about keeping this much needed service.

I was approached by a woman in Rimutaka from ESOL Assesment and Access Specialist Service who was deeply concerned that three of her programmes, aimed at migrant communities, will be cut.

She told me that since the service was established, over 6,000 individuals have been assessed by the free service.

For more information or to pass on a message of support, email: esol.specialist@xtra.co.nz

Many thanks again to everyone who took part in Sunday’s fantastic event in Upper Hutt.

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Filed under: ethnic
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Two big events tomorrow

Posted by Sue Moroney on August 6th, 2009

Tomorrow I’ll be taking part in two big events in Hamilton and Auckland.

The first is the public launch of my bill to extend paid parental leave to six months which will be taking place during the ‘Big Latch On’ event in Mount Wellington, Auckland at 10A.M. The event is being held during World Breastfeeding Week and aims to raise awareness of the benefits of breast feeding by getting as many women nation-wide breastfeeding at the same time – 200 are expected in Auckland alone.

If my Bill is enacted, it would allow parents to be at home with their new babies for longer (it is currently 14 weeks paid parental leave) and therefore make it easier for women to breastfeed their babies until they are six months old, which is the recommendation from the World Health Organisation. The Bill has many other benefits for supporting families through these precious first months.

The other event will be in Hamilton at Garden Place, midday, where local people will gather to protest against the Government’s short-sighted cuts to Adult and Community Education. This disastrous decision by Anne Tolley will result in both Fraser High School and Melville High School closing down their hugely popular night classes – I don’t think she had any idea of the impact that these classes have in our communities.

Come along.

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Filed under: events
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