Cuts end popular night classes

Adult education is getting the chop as schools axe night classes after Government Budget cuts.

Almost half the schools offering adult education have pulled out and one estimate is that only 10 per cent of last year's student numbers will be in the classroom this year.

Access to classes that remain could be determined by the size of students' bank balances as fees soar.

The Government's $13.1 million funding cut for Adult Community Education, announced in the 2009 Budget, has seen the number of community-based courses plummet.

More than 100 of 212 schools offering continuing education last year have pulled out and just 24 are still receiving government funding, with another 24 in "partnerships" with funded schools.

Maryke Fordyce, president of the Continuing Education Association through Schools, said it was yet to be seen how many classes would survive. Last year 200,000 people attended subsidised night classes in schools, but only 25,000 places were subsidised this year.

In the Greater Wellington region 15 of the 20 schools offering adult courses last year have effectively shut up shop.

Other groups such as polytechnics and rural and Maori groups also offer continuing education but the Government has indicated their funding is likely to be cut next year. The Government will still fund "core" literacy and numeracy courses such as te reo, English for speakers of other languages and sign language.

PPTA president Kate Gainsford is warning that night schools could become the domain of the affluent because falling numbers mean fees are increasing. "We're looking at the beginning of a pattern being revealed which is that schools servicing well-off areas only will be the ones who are offering [courses]."

One of Wellington's biggest night schools, Wellington High School, is offering more than 900 courses this year but has cancelled some courses because students cannot afford rising fees.

"We'll miss a whole block of the lower socio-economic grouping of our people in our communities who now will have to really struggle if they want to do courses," adult community education centre director Colin Wharton said.

At Wellington High most courses faced an increase of about $10, but subjects like foreign languages had risen in price from $96 to $145.

One casualty had been a popular welding course which "was meeting a real need but had high materials costs. We think it's totally unfair ... because it's such an integral part of what people in New Zealand do", Mr Wharton said.

Ms Fordyce said staff were also losing jobs, and New Zealand's reputation for encouraging lifelong learning was being diminished.

Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce said that though adult education courses benefited students, it was a question of whether taxpayers should foot the bill. "We support continuing education and will continue to support courses that deliver clear economic benefits. We simply cannot justify spending millions of dollars of taxpayers' money on courses that do not clearly deliver these benefits."

- © Fairfax NZ News