Bristol teachers protest at education cuts
"No ifs, no buts, no education cuts", was the message from scores of protesters at the Council House.
Teachers and students banged drums, waved placards and chanted slogans ahead of last night's full council meeting. They were raising concerns about the proposed loss of £2.4 million worth of government funding for adult education in Bristol.
The cuts are expected to come with the closure of the Learning and Skills Council, which until now has funded local courses through City of Bristol College. Up to 250 jobs in adult education could be lost as a result, with dozens of courses potentially being scrapped.
Most of these will be at the Beacon Centre and the City Academy in Lawrence Hill, the Barton Hill Settlement and The Old Co-op in Easton, all centres for adult education.
2 Comments
by Carla Ballin, Bristol
Wednesday, March 31 2010, 3:29PM
“Actually clever clogs it's a bit more complex than that so I hope you're listening carefully!
The LSC is being disbanded and will now be the SFA (draw your own conclusions on that acronym) . The SFA will have different priority areas than the LSC had and ESOL will no longer be a priority area for the SFA, particularly at lower levels. Instead the local councils have strategic responsibility for ESOL in their areas.
Councils also have a commitment to Community Cohesion which is of course improved if people are able to speak to each other, look after their children, improve their skills, find work. Community Cohesion policy is, as I understand it, part of the Prevent strategy which is intended to prevent home grown terrorism. ESOL is seen as a vital part of the prevent strategy on a local (council) level.
So we quite appropriately went to the council house in Bristol to make our views heard on a local issue which the council have responsibility for. And the council appear to agree with us (in theory at least).”
by Steve, Glastonbury
Wednesday, March 31 2010, 2:01PM
“So they were protesting at The Council house because thw government in Westminster has cut funding?
Hope none of them were Geography teachers!
Or were they requesting a rise in Council Tax to fund the gap...
Or money from thin air perhaps...”