Anger grows at ESOL funding cuts

This week the Government have unveiled the English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Equality Impact Assessment amidst plans to reform the current provisions.

ESOL is a course that helps non English speakers learn and improve their English and is helpful for conducting usual day to day business and helps individuals to integrate into mainstream British society.

The cuts to ESOL funding are due to come into effect next month and as the Department of Business Innovations and Skills (BIS) research demonstrates, the majority of people who take the ESOL courses are BME. In particular their finding shows that a high proportion of learners are Asian and particularly Asian women.

Campaigners against the cuts to ESOL provision have argued that they will have a detrimental impact on these individuals' ability to communicate and integrate, not only affecting them, but also their children as well. An ESOL teacher quoted in the BIS Equality Impact Assessment Report quoted " After Asian women have been using the programme for a couple of months, they are more able to function in society with regards to visiting medical practitioners and communicating with their children's teacher. It is only a short amount of time these women are on the programme and yet they get a lot of benefits."

The Government recognise the rewards that learning English provides, however they believes that if people are coming to this country to find work, then they should pay for the costs on the ESOL courses themselves or at least their employers.

Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, John Hayes said:
"By targeting public funding on those in greatest need, and setting higher standards for providers, our reforms will make ESOL provision work better for learners, employers, and taxpayers. We are fully funding ESOL provision for jobseekers to help them to access work, but we will not use the public purse to support free English language training for individuals who have come here to take up work - companies that recruit abroad should take responsibility for that."

John Hayes MP, Minster for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, has finally released the Equalities Impact Assessment of the cuts to ESOL funding which are due to come into effect next month. With parliament shutting down for the summer and the nation gripped by Murdoch-gate, from Hayes' perspective the release could not have been better timed.

Campaigning groups against the cuts have stated the report is long overdue, very disappointing and contains too many assumptions. They are concerned that nearly 60,000 current female ESOL students will not be eligible for fee remission under the new rules and are concerned these individuals who are mainly students, women on benefits, the very low-paid and asylum seekers are not going to find up to £1,000 to pay for their course fees.

The opposition to the cuts has been strong and in just five months, BIS received over 1,200 pieces of correspondence against the cuts - a record amount which does not include the letters sent in bulk by hundreds of ESOL students and teachers across the country. A spokesperson for Action for ESOL said: "John Hayes has not listened to the arguments. Many ESOL students will not be able to pay the increased fees. Asylum seekers have been ignored. Teachers are losing their jobs. He is destroying ten years of ESOL development. This will have huge consequences for our students and their communities."

Misha Sylver and Francine Fernandes

Picture: ESOL students protesting in June 2011 in East London