Local Authority Adult Education Classes

In an ideal world there would be a selection of courses at every level in every town run by enthusiastic teachers who would present material in exactly the right format for each student.

Sadly it isn’t like that, unless you live in a city or large town or are extremely lucky you will be faced with a long journey to attend a class at an inconvenient time, at an inappropriate level, in an underfunded local authority building with limited parking and a teacher who is frustrated by the constraints placed upon her syllabus and students by the “admin” department.

By the time you have listened to the “health and safety” stuff, learned how to wash your hands properly, been told not to eat, smoke, drink, use mobile phones etc in the classroom, filled in the forms on your ethnic origin, filled in the form on your “learning objectives”, reflected on how these might be achieved, filled in a form for library access in a town 40 miles away, and been warned that if there is the slightest hint of a snowflake falling in the same county you should listen to the radio all day to see if your study centre will be closed – and don’t try phoning because the switchboard operators aren’t allowed to tell you what’s happening – and had a fire drill: the first lesson is over, “sorry about the admin” see you all next week!

PROS

• Socially the classes can be great fun
• You get some access to a teacher if you have questions
• Excellent scones and chocolate cake in the canteen

CONS

• The class moves at the speed of the slowest student
• Increasingly the syllabus is dictated externally
• Assessments and form filling take up too much class time
• There are long breaks that mirror school holidays
• 30 mile round trip each week and need to be early to get a parking space