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£9 million for English language training
04/02/2008
Asylum seekers and others new to Scotland are to benefit from £9 million of funding for English language classes.
Over the next three years the new funding could deliver up to 7,000 more places for migrant workers, asylum seekers, refugees and others who are eager to learn English. In 2006 there were more than 19,000 people in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes, an increase of 30 per cent on the previous year.
Speaking ahead of the inaugural meeting of the National ESOL Panel, Fiona Hyslop said:
"The Scottish Government is committed to encouraging high quality, accessible and affordable English language teaching to support our growing economy and encourage active citizenship in a vibrant and inclusive society.
"We recognise the critical contribution that migrant workers make to Scotland and believe that investing in training will improve opportunities for new Scots while enhancing the skills base to meet the demands of Scottish employers and the economy. It will also help new Scots in their integration into our culture and society."
Fiona Hyslop today met with ESOL learners who are undergoing training at Stevenson College Edinburgh and found out about their experiences of living and learning English in Scotland.
Flick Thorpe, Associate Principal, Head of Faculty, Languages and Tourism at Stevenson College, commented:
"We at Stevenson College wholeheartedly welcome the ESOL strategy. We're delighted it has enabled us to run more English classes for people who have made their home in Edinburgh, allowing them to participate more fully in work and life in Scotland.
"Our ESOL courses at Stevenson are hugely popular, attracting more than 2,000 people a year, from beginners to those with fairly good English who'd like to further improve their skills.
Stevenson College looks forward to future developments in the ESOL strategy, including increased coordination of ESOL delivery across Scotland."
The ESOL strategy, published on March 28, 2007, aims to provide a blueprint to upgrade the quality and, where appropriate, quantity of publicly acrossfunded ESOL provision the college, Community Learning and Development and voluntary sectors. Funding of £5 million was made available to support the strategy in 2007-08. It is anticipated that this should create around an additional 4,000 classroom places for ESOL learners.
A National ESOL Panel has been established to monitor the quality and quantity of ESOL provision in Scotland and to coordinate all aspects of the ESOL strategy across all sectors, regions and interests.
Publicly funded ESOL provision is currently supplied by Scotland's colleges (60 per cent), Community Learning and Development partnerships (36 per cent), with the remainder being within the voluntary sector (4 per cent). ESOL provision is offered at every level, from beginner to proficient.
Recent research indicates that there were over 19,000 enrolments in publicly-funded ESOL in 2005-06 (up from 14,500 in 2003-04 - an increase of more than 30 per cent). It also indicates that most ESOL providers cannot meet current demand, with waiting lists common across Scotland.