IN BRIE F

r The UK Commission for Employment and Skills has published a review of the role of technology in the career support market. The review, Enhancing choice?, examines the role of technology in changing and shaping the delivery of careers support, introducing and analysing some of the key topics relating to the internet’s role and potential in this task.

r More than a million schoolchildren in the UK lack access to a computer at home, while almost two million are unable to go online at home, according to research from digital education charity, the E-Learning Foundation. Children from the poorest families are two-and-a-half times less likely to have the internet at home than children from the richest homes, the charity says.

r Funding for intervention programmes in England, such as teenage pregnancy and youth crime support, are to be cut and replaced with an early intervention grant, given to local authorities to distribute as they see fit. The grant will be almost 11 per cent less than previous funding streams.

r Business should pay for degrees in subjects such as science and technology, with public funding directed towards the arts and humanities, according to the head of the Institute of International Education. Allan Goodman told Times Higher Education it was the duty of universities to produce ‘as many poets as physicists’ and that businesses should fund more ‘commercial’ subjects.

r NIACE Dysgu Cymru is seeking to identify outstanding tutors, mentors and learners from across Wales for its annual Inspire! Tutor and Learner Awards. To find out how to nominate go to: http://www.niacedc. org.uk/.

6 ADULTS LEARNING JANUARY 2011

Remaking adult learning BOOK LAUNCH

A book examining what can be done about the under-resourced education of adults was launched last month at an event to celebrate NIACE Chief Executive Alan Tuckett’s lifetime’s work in adult learning. Remaking Adult Learning, which is published jointly by NIACE and the Institute of Education (IoE), charts challenges and successes in the adult learning sector and is written in tribute to Alan Tuckett, who is set to retire in August 2011, after 23 years at the helm of NIACE.

The book explores how he has inspired and influenced those involved in the adult learning sector, from grassroots to both national and international policy contexts. Ursula Howard, Visiting Professorial Fellow at the IoE and one of the editors of the book, said: ‘Remaking Adult Learning is a genuine rarity, offering academic rigour in such a lively, accessible way, grounded in adult learning practice and policy across the world. Not many books offer depth, breadth, quality and lightness of touch in one volume.

‘The essays in this book bring together new knowledge, new analyses of research evidence, practitioners’ experiences and astute perceptions across all the important themes and questions facing adult and lifelong learning now and in the future.

‘Historically, the book addresses the long and recent past; it addresses the intellectual development of adult learning, current practices, policies, problems and challenges as we move into an uncertain future … It will be essential reading for academics, policy makers, researchers, teachers and students of and in adult learning, as well as employers and employees.’ Remaking Adult Learning will be officially launched on Thursday 20 January 2011, at an event hosted by the IoE in London. It will be followed up by an IoE conference on Monday 14 March 2011. Details will appear here when available.

Remaking Adult Learning: Essays on Adult Education in Honour of Alan Tuckett is available from NIACE, priced £23.95.

Shared services could cut university costs HIGHER EDUCATION

Universities could reduce potential student debt and protect teaching and research by being more imaginative about how they are run, according to a new report from Policy Exchange.

The study calls for the HE sector to outsource functions like maintenance and accommodation and argues that big savings can be made from universities sharing services like finance, human resources or student records. Up to 30 per cent of the total cost could be saved if more services were shared, the report estimates. Across the entire HE sector, that would mean total savings of £2.7 billion. However, the Joint Information and Systems Committee found that only 26 per cent of HE institutions reported themselves to have any shared services at all, and fewer than 50 per cent of HE

managers would ‘readily consider’ sharing services in any area of administrative operations. The report’s author, Alex Massey, said university administrators have not been imaginative enough – or adopted the best ideas in the sector. ‘Too many universities operate in an outdated

way,’ he said. ‘They’ve failed to recognise the savings and service improvements that could be obtained through engagement with commercial partners and the use of shared services. ‘Too many university managers continue to regard the private sector with suspicion, rather than recognising the benefits that can accrue from productive collaborative arrangements. With students facing higher levels of debt, it is really time for universities to start taking efficiency and value-for- money seriously.’

Nominations are now open for the inaugural Apprentice of the Year Award, to be presented as part of the twentieth Adult Learners’ Week in May 2011. NIACE and Pearson Work Based Learning are looking for stories of outstanding individual apprentices who have transformed not only their own lives through the apprenticeship programme, but also had a positive impact on their colleagues and the businesses they are working for; and who will act as inspirational role models to encourage others to take up apprenticeships. For more information about how to nominate for Adult Learners’ Week Awards 2011 or about the twentieth Adult Learners’ Week celebrations, visit http://www.alw.org.uk/, email alw@niace.org.uk, or phone the NIACE Adult Learners’ Week team on 0116 204 4200.

The government has invited organisations to register their interest in forming a technology and innovation centre focused on the area of high-value manufacturing. The centre will be the first of an elite national network of centres, to be established and overseen by the Technology Strategy Board, that will work in partnership with universities and businesses to help commercialise the results of research in specific technology areas where there are potential multi-billion pound global markets.