Get Adult Ed out of the network …

Lynn Jarvis Friends of Adult Education
Meeting votes: Get Adult Ed out of the Community Knowledge Network

A repeated theme of the public forum held last night (Friday) on the future of Adult Ed was that Adult Ed was working well, so why put that in jeopardy?

A resolution was passed unanimously at the end of the meeting to remove Adult Ed from the planned merger into the Community Knowledge Network and re-instate it as a state-wide, independent organisation, complete with pre-CKN facilities, staffing and funding.

Lynn Jarvis, Friends of AE spokesperson who addressed the meeting said, “Adult Ed has been the incubator of many wonderful learning programs – from adult literacy provision to the School for Seniors. It has been able to do this because it has never been top-heavy with managers and because it has had the freedom to act quickly and independently.”

“The people now in charge have been at this for two and a half years, yet not one new and unique learning opportunity for a single Tasmanian has yet been created. What we have to show for this two and half years is instead countless costly meetings, layers of new managers, plans for expensive buildings and organisational charts that would confound Houdini.”

The meeting also unanimously called for an urgent, open and transparent community consultation process about the future of Adult Education and adult and community learning in Tasmania in general.

About 300 people attended the meeting. Wood turning tutor, Barry Champion, travelled from Hobart to Launceston to tell the meeting how his class was so much more than just learning to do something practical. “It’s about supporting people, and helping them through rough times’” he said. Green’s leader, Nick McKim, echoed Barry’s thoughts, saying how he had been enlightened about the many roles Adult Ed had to play in the community by visiting Barry’s class.

Other speakers including Peter Cundall, Dr Frank Madill, Kerry Finch and Sue Napier all spoke out about the value of Adult Education and the need for the community to be consulted about any changes to this organisation.

Malcolm White, CEO of the Tasmanian Skills Institute read a prepared statement on behalf of the Premier, once again assuring the meeting that Adult Ed was safe as long as classes were viable. He did not elaborate on what this meant. Unfortunately no other department representatives were present who were able to provide more information.

Later Ms Jarvis claimed that the new Pricing Policy for Adult Ed meant that classes would be assessed on a class by class basis – if it didn’t make enough money it would be declared ‘non-viable’ and would not be run. “This method of managing Adult Ed classes has enormous consequences and surely is not what Adult Ed is supposed to be about,” she said.