ACE Sector Applauds Labour Policy on Adult and Community Education
The Adult and Community Education (ACE) Sector applauds the Labour Party’s proposal to restore $13million of funding to
the sector per year with a further $9million per year from 2018. The policy announced today, would support the sector’s
vision of a society in which lifelong learning is the norm whether for skills enhancement, cultural revitalisation or
wellbeing.
Board co-chair Wendel Richardson says there is tremendous potential for growth within the sector but many community
providers are limited because of resource constraints. The restoration of funding would allow many more learners to
access community - based education tailored to their individual needs.
One million dollars of extra funding will also be available for community based teaching of English to speakers of other
languages. CEO of English Language partners, Nicola Sutton, says being able to learn English is crucial for newcomers to
New Zealand because it means people can get on with their work and join in with what is happening in their local
communities.
Additional funding to enable more opportunities to learn English in the community is welcome news.
The ACE Sector welcomes Labour’s intention to consult closely with the sector on how extra resources might be allocated.
The community education landscape has changed dramatically since the funding cuts and new ways of working need to be
explored.
For example during the past five years some community education has been delivered via community hubs driven by local
community need.
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