The Scottish Government

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6 SUPPORTING LEARNING AND PROGRESSION

Guiding principles

• Provision which supports migrant and refugee settlement, and aids inclusion and full participation in Scottish society and the economy by these groups and by settled ethnic communities
• Provision which supports and encourages routes into further learning and/or employment
• Provision which reflects wider national literacies targets and promotes attainment and personal and social achievement

Background

Understanding the barriers to learning that face ESOL learners, and developing support and guidance mechanisms and progression routes for ESOL students are as essential as teaching, learning and assessment, for helping learners achieve their potential and meet their aspirations. They are also fundamental to aiding greater participation by ESOL learners in their local communities, Scottish society and the economy.

A joint audit of skills and aspirations amongst asylum seekers and refugees carried out by the Scottish Executive and Scottish Refugee Council in 2004 revealed that 55 per cent and 21 per cent of respondents had attended and completed college and university level education respectively in their countries of origin. Many also had valuable vocational and professional skills. Despite a number of local developments for refugee doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers and trades, only four FE colleges and six CLD centres - of those involved in the recent ESOL research - ran English for work courses. Research carried out for NIACE and the Department for Work and Pensions in 2002 amongst asylum seekers and refugees revealed that these groups often attended ESOL classes, 'in the hope of improving their employment prospects, but do not always find them designed to address these skills.' The ESOL report pointed out that the lack of dialogue between ESOL departments and providers of other advanced and non-advanced courses also placed barriers in the way of ESOL learners' progression. It also showed that learners may choose to remain in an ESOL class with teachers with whom they are familiar. There may also be a mismatch between perceptions of ESOL learners' language skills and the language skills required for success in the communication components on HN level courses.

In April 2005 the Minister for Communities announced funding for a number of schemes to help support asylum seekers and refugees into employment and to enable greater participation into local communities. Further funding has been allocated for 2006-07.

6.1 Barriers to learning

Discrimination

The Scottish Executive is committed to promoting equality of opportunity and social justice for all those who live in Scotland. This means tackling discrimination and prejudice and challenging the systems, behaviour and attitudes that cause or sustain them.

The ESOL report found no evidence that racism was a factor in learners being unable to access provision. All providers should be aware of their statutory obligations under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. The National ESOL Panel and the regional ESOL partnerships should carry links to relevant legislation and tools (such as Partnership Matters) as part of their advice on guidance and support for centres.

Childcare, class times and travel

The ESOL report identified three main reasons why many of those with ESOL needs were unable to access ESOL classes:

• Childcare demands and a lack of crèche/ nursery facilities;
• Work commitments; and
• Distance from ESOL classes and difficulties with accessing or affording transport.

The Scottish Executive is supporting, as part of its Childcare Strategy, the promotion of Childcare Information Services (based within local authorities) as a local source of information and advice to parents and others looking for childcare. Information on childcare services is also included in the Scottish Executive's Helping you meet the costs of learning, a funding guide for learners. Links to these services should be included along with other sources of information, advice and guidance on the national ESOL website.

The combined links between local CLD and other partnerships (which often already have close links with childcare partnerships), FE colleges (many of which have excellent crèche and nursery facilities) and the National ESOL Panel should facilitate the innovatory collaboration recommended in the ESOL report by considering more effective ways of coordinating transport, crèche facilities, accommodation and class times.

6.2 Guidance & support

Institutions

ESOL providers should ensure that all learners can access the full range of accessible guidance and support services at a level appropriate to their needs. Guidance tutors should be specialists in guidance with effective counselling skills who are properly informed as to the changing legal landscape and its implications for students, and be able to communicate these to departments throughout their institution or, in the case of CLD and ALN partnerships, across provider agencies.

All ESOL providers should ensure that every individual has a learning plan. This should be agreed after an extended individual interview at the initial assessment and induction stages of learning and be regularly updated by the relevant staff, with regular and meaningful reviews of the plan with individual learners. The plan, held by the learners as well as the provider, should contain detailed information about the learner's:

• Entry level of English and achievements (whether accredited or experiential);
• Desired exit level and future plans for study and employment;
• Competences and skills to be acquired;
• Learning needs and personal circumstances pertinent to a sustained programme of study; and
• Attainment.

Providers should ensure that all ESOL learners receive appropriate and informed advice on the next stages of their learning and are adequately prepared for working in a Scottish environment and participating in Scottish society. Managers with responsibility for student support should ensure that guidance and support staff have the necessary information to be able to impart clear advice about options, funding and childcare entitlements at each stage of learning. Guidance and support staff should also receive the necessary training and information to be able to fully assess the needs and circumstances of non-English speaking learners.

Regional

The regional ESOL structure could also be used to discuss general guidance issues (such as the provision of properly trained guidance staff, statutory requirements, immigration status (where applicable), access to housing, healthcare, education for dependents).

Regional partnerships and ESOL providers should create and sustain a register of accessible native speakers for the full range of minority ethnic languages, where feasible, and ensure that interpretation services are accessible for particular ethnic groups in centres where the demand is heaviest.

National

The Scottish Executive, SCQF, SQA and Careers Scotland, should provide clear advice to the National ESOL Panel on guidance and support issues. The professional development needs of guidance and support (teaching and learning as well as administrative) staff should be considered by the short-life group on professional development (see section 5.2).

6.3 Progression

The Scottish Executive's lifelong learning strategy, Life Through Learning; Learning Through Life, and its strategy for the enterprise networks, A Smart Successful Scotland, have placed lifelong learning culture at the centre of its social and economic agenda. The benefits of releasing the potential of ESOL learners have already been referred to in this strategy. Recommendations for highlighting good practice are outlined more generally in section 4, as is the recommendation for the ESOL curriculum group to refer to existing successful work-related ESOL programmes (both in and outside Scotland), policy developments in citizenship and employability and routes to further study (see section 5).

English for vocational purposes ( EVP)

As section 5 noted, there are insufficient numbers of EVP courses in Scotland. EVP is not only beneficial to learners in helping them to enter the labour market, increasing their contact with local communities and allowing them to participate more fully in Scottish society, but also because it may improve their wider English skills by giving more opportunities for their use in a practical setting. Successful models of EVP have been run in Glasgow and Edinburgh. However, if EVP and workplace ESOL classes are to be effective they need the support of employers, in terms of time and resources.

This strategy recommends that:

• The development of more EVP schemes be considered by, for example, organisations with a substantial number of actual or potential ESOL learners in their workforce in the context of policies/schemes relating to citizenship and employability; and
• Local ESOL providers work closely with employers, local authorities, voluntary bodies, LECs and Local Economic Fora ( LEFs) to develop EVP programmes.

There are successful pilot projects and examples of good practice on which such schemes might be modelled. For instance: WHIGG (Working for Health in Greater Glasgow) and OTAR (Overseas Tradespeople Accreditation and Reskilling) are good current examples of partnership projects across a range of organisations; schemes run by Bernard Matthews, to integrate a largely Portuguese workforce, the Drumossie Hotel, Highview Care Home and Strathaird Fish Factory in Inverness, are current examples of good practice of employers setting up such schemes themselves. There is also useful development work being done in the FE sector, particularly at Anniesland College in Glasgow, worthy of further investigation.

Involvement of trade unions is also essential in reaching potential learners in the workplace, referring them and providing them with the means, through the STUC, the Scottish Union Learning Fund ( SULF) and local Union Learning representatives, to access ESOL provision. A number of union and employer sponsored workplace ESOL courses have already being successful.

English for further study

The Scottish Executive's waiving of restrictions on asylum seekers' access to part-time non-advanced and advanced (Higher National) level study in 2001 and 2003, respectively, has been one step towards allowing greater access to further study amongst one group of ESOL learners. As section 4 set out, access to further study for ESOL learners in higher education institutions might also be facilitated by collaboration between CLD partnerships and the regional wider access fora. CLD partnerships and ESOL providers should also acquaint themselves with developments in widening participation to higher education designed for asylum seekers and refugees. Progression opportunities for asylum seekers and refugees onto higher education courses are being investigated separately at present by the Open University ( OU), on behalf of the SFC. Access to courses in community learning and development is based on need as opposed to the eligibility criteria used in the further education sector. Guidance on eligibility for funding for further study can be found in the Scottish Executive's Helping you meet the costs of learning, at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/03/29162117/21195;

or from learndirect Scotland at:

http://www.learndirectscotland.com/.

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