TUC: adult education plan will fail without union fund

The TUC has stated that the government’s adult education plans will fail if the union learning fund is axed next year (see Fact Service issue 42).

In September the prime minister announced free skills training for adults who missed out at school. But, the TUC says, the scheme can only work with help from the union learning fund.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Union learning is a rare success story in adult skills. The union learning fund has helped millions of learners gain qualifications, especially those with few or no prior qualifications.

“If ministers want their new skills policy to work, then they need to think about how to engage and support reluctant learners. That’s what union learning excels at. Without this crucial help, the new entitlement is just a paper promise.

“Union learning makes a massive contribution to the UK’s adult skills. The proposal to end it in spring 2021 is both puzzling and counterproductive.”

https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/tuc-prime-ministers-skills-policy-will-be-paper-promise-if-government-scraps-union-learning