I thought your review makes some excellent points. It is noticeable that the
government (all governments, perhaps) only seems to listen to the bodies it
sets up when they say what ministers want to hear. If numbers are so
important, why aren't they taking steps to reduce the waiting lists of
people who are desperate to learn English, rather than putting out endless
statements about compelling people to learn English?
Considering some of my students, this would go some way towards answering
the 'skills shortage', as well.
One of the factors contributing to my early retirement (next year, if not at
the end of this year) is being asked to cram more and more into a reduced
time--we've lost a couple of weeks over the past few years and this is
serious for classes which only meet a few hours a week. Having to include 20
hours of specific citizenship tuition in this reduced time doesn't help
much, either. I'm not aware of any targets having been reduced to reflect
reduced teaching and learning time. (The lost pay doesn't help, either,
especially when there are no ESOL summer courses to teach.)
I'm hoping to have enough time during the holiday to read the book, by the
way.
Cheryl Thornett
ESOL & Literacy ttutor
Birmingham Adult Education
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