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Source: ONE News -
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Community education leaders are vowing to put adult education back on the political agenda ahead of November's election.
It's nearly two years since the government cut just over $13.1
million from the sector, and many night schools have been forced to
close as a result.
Otumoetai College was the hub of adult education in Tauranga for 44
years, but its classrooms are now empty in the evening, and staff
like Sue Hawkins are put out of work.
"Your local secondary school, with all its wonderful assets and courses, is now not available to you in the way that it was - a really really big loss," said Hawkins, former community education co-ordinator at Otumoetai College.
Before the 2009 budget cuts, the money was spent on open-entry programmes including dressmaking, belly dancing, computing and business. More than 200,000 adult learners used to take part every year, but now that has dropped to around 35,000.
Just over $3 million is still available for the programme but it must be used for numeracy and literacy classes, as well as to help Maori, Pacific and new migrant students.
Almost two years on, the government stand by their move, saying the cuts had to happen.
"It seems hard to accept that the taxpayer should be funding education courses that are primarily about people's hobbies," said tertiary education minister Steven Joyce.
"I don't see significant changes with ACE funding."
But industry leaders said the classes taught valuable training and work skills.
"Most disaffected learners come back into learning in an informal way, so they see a guitar class they think 'I want to learn the guitar', they come in and learn the guitar, [and they] think 'actually school is ok I'll go and do a computer class," said Linda Melrose from Community Learning Association through schools.
Now adult educators are taking their campaign to voters in an election year.
"We're still passionate about adult education and it's not going to go away. Schools are still an important place to deliver life-long learning," said Melrose.
