The Scottish Government

Learning Connections enewsletters

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• Enews: Adult Literacies (See latest copy October 2009)
• Enews: Community Learning and Development

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News

Strategic Review of Learning Connections

A comprehensive strategic review of Learning Connections has been undertaken to determine its strategic fit with the Lifelong Learning Directorate and to ensure maximum effectiveness in terms of Community Learning and Development (CLD) policy advice, policy delivery and practice development.

The scope of the review looked at all aspects of Learning Connections and the CLD Standards Council including policy and delivery work, and practice development. It also considered aspects of policy delivery within the Scottish Government which relate to CLD, including Adult Literacy and Numeracy (ALN) and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and interdependencies.

We are currently investigating the feasibility of the recommendations and hope to be able to make a final statement later in the year that will confirm exactly how we will be taking these recommendations forward. For example the recommendation in relation to Learning Teaching Scotland (LTS) is subject to the outcomes of the current LTS review.

For the purpose of this review, Community Learning and Development (CLD) has been taken to mean:

• A distinct sector of learning alongside schooling and further and higher education
• A discipline using a distinct set of competences that can be utilised by staff in a range of settings across the public and third sectors
• An area of activity that promotes: achievement for adults (such as community-based adult learning, including ALN and ESOL, achievement for young people (youth work, including working in partnership with formal education) and achievement through building community capacity (including community development).

The key conclusions of this review are that:

• Historically there has not been strong co-ordinated support at national level for the delivery of policy and practice in CLD, and the existing delivery landscape for CLD is complicated. Attempts to address this over recent years have been partly beneficial but have also resulted in some confusion.
• There is a need for greater clarity within Government and wider stakeholders about roles and responsibilities for CLD
• Most of the functions performed by Learning Connections are needed.
• These functions could be considered in three categories:
  o Policy development (an internal SG function)
  o Practice development and policy implementation (external to Government)
  o CLD Standards Council (external to Government).

The key recommendations in relation to the review are:

• that clarity is given to addressing CLD Policy across Scottish Government. This will bring together policy interests currently in the Further and Adult Education Department (FAED) and Learning Connections into one division within Lifelong Learning Directorate. It will also involve establishing formal links with the Youth Work team in the Positive Futures Division of Children Young People and Social Care Directorate and ensure the necessary links for effective policy development in building community capacity.
• that the CLD Standards Council be transferred to Lifelong Learning UK (LLUK), the sector skills council for lifelong learning.
• that the practice development and policy implementation functions of Learning Connections be transferred to Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS), with a representative advisory body to oversee its work.

See the full review report.

Offender Literacies Learning Challenge Fund 2009

Details of the successful bids for funding from the offender literacies learning challenge fund are now available.

The aim of the Challenge Fund is to improve the quality and diversity of adult literacy and numeracy programmes for offenders and ex offenders in Scotland.

Events Archive

Report on the Developing Independence through Literacies Seminar (November 2008).

Events Diary