Yes - this consultation has been remarkably low profile, and yet it has huge implications for the future of ESOL provision. There are two more consultation events (one in London on 16 November and one on 20 November in Belfast), and at the very least it's vital that these are well attended.
The new 'for life in the UK' qualification might make sense if it was clearly going to be a 'must have' for anyone seeking a visa or Settlement. However, the Home Office don't seem to have been in on this as they're still talking about accepting a range of qualifications when the minimum language requirement for KOL changes to B1 from next year. If less 'restrictive' qualifications continue to be available along this 'high risk, high stakes' one then why would anyone bother?
Strangely, the consultation also suggests international qualifications (as well as this new qualification) should all be referenced to the UK (or more accurately England/NI) National Standards for Adult Literacy and Adult ESOL Core Curriculum. One wonders how practitioners working outside of the UK would/could be expected to work with the Core Curriculum...!
One might be forgiven for thinking the legalese around 'removing regulation' around ESOL Skills for Life (and ESOL for Work, although these qualifications have largely gone...) was intended to confuse, although really it's about not wanting to prescribe content and assessment regime through regulation (which doesn't preclude other constraints, eg eligibility for funding). In essence it would seem to allow awarding organisations to continue offering these qualifications without any significant changes (other than to Reading at levels 1-2, because of the national test being phased out), although equally it could potentially open the door to a range of other approaches - perhaps something akin to the new unit-based QCF qualifications that are being developed for first language speakers.
What matters for now is that the ESOL community should engage in this consultation. Ther's still a risk that we'll be 'done to', but it'll be a certainty if we stay silent.
Paul
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