December 2009 - February 2010

Media reporting on night classes (adult and community education) in secondary schools.  The 2009 budget decision cut funding to night classes by 80%, allocating the remaining 20% of ACE funding to a small number of providers.  There are many people who began their own successful professional and personal journeys through accessing adult education classes at their local secondary school.

Cuts to community education funding are still to hit the polytechnic sector.

Tutors ease in to new ACE classes
Kaikoura Star, 03/02/2010
Kaikoura night classes will begin next week, after the region escaped Government funding cuts that saw Adult Community Education dropped in most of the upper South Island.
Schools in Nelson, Marlborough and Tasman were forced to abandon the classes this year after the Government announced it was shifting funds to priority areas such as boosting literacy and numeracy.

PPTA Hopes Reshuffle Will Lead To ACE Rethink - Voxy News Engine, Wednesday, 27 January, 2010
PPTA president Kate Gainsford hopes National's education portfolio reshuffle will signal a rethink on the poorly thought out adult community education (ACE) cuts.

Secondary schools hold on to night classes - By CARLY TAWHIAO, Central Leader, 27/01/2010
Community education will continue at some Auckland secondary schools this year despite funding cuts of almost 80 percent.
From February, night classes will run at Western Springs College, Mt Albert Grammar, Onehunga High School and Mt Roskill Grammar.

Night classes available at price - By CHARLIE ANDERSON, The Nelson Mail, 16/01/2010
Adult and Community Education is still alive in Nelson city and the only two outlets providing it are hopeful the demand is still there for night classes even if it means paying more for it.

Blindly following orders could result in Tolley discovering just what sacrifice is - By KATE GAINSFORD, Dominion Post, 14/01/2010
Ignoring the covert message implicit in the National Party distribution of largesse to the boys playing with their new trucks and diggers in the sandpit, she continues to take seriously the finance minister's instructions to cut spending. She kicked off 2009 by carving $16 million out of adult and community education, presumably at the request of Bill English. This was a king hit on the mainly National Party voters who are likely to have the time and inclination to take the sort of night classes she rubbished as hobby courses. And that was just the start; she has promised to come back this year and get the rest - a further $80 million.

Ex-Kuranui principal furious at axing of night schooling - Jenna Powell | 7th January 2010
Twenty-years of night schooling in South Wairarapa has come to an end after government budget cuts.
There will be no more adult education classes taking place at Kuranui College in 2010.

Life on the land no hardship for 92-year-old - The Southland Times, 07/01/2010
Farming on the southern coast is not always easy. Reporter Carolyn Deverson catches up with Albert McTanish and asks him way he continues to love the land.
... A full life of learning ("I always went to night classes wherever I was") and adventure has taken Mr McTainsh fishing in Alaska when he was about 85, crewing on Russian sailing boats along the South Island, working for Hawker-Sidley on the curtain walls on multi-storey buildings in Auckland, topdressing and surf lifesaving.

Battles won, from skirts to schools - Manawatu Standard, 04/01/2010
... Government funding cuts saw the axe hover over night classes in the region. Queen Elizabeth College and Feilding High School both faced courses being chopped or fees skyrocketing, and community outcry was immediate and loud.

Mid-winter's ups and downs - By WARWICK RASMUSSEN - Manawatu Standard, 02/01/2010
... The Government announces it will slash funding to night-school classes to save money. Continuing-education night classes, like those held at Queen Elizabeth College, would become the hardest hit.

Looking back: Nelson in 2009 - The Nelson Mail, 02/01/2010
... Sleeper issue or political beat-up? Whatever the true significance of the Government's decision to slash funding for "hobby" night classes, it became an on-going irritation for Education Minister Anne Tolley and her colleagues, as those affected by the cuts to Adult and Community Education protested loudly. In Nelson, the Mail seized the issue and found no shortage of people willing to complain. As the wife of one night-school tutor put it: "It undermines the effort and passion that people put into running these. It is an insult to them and an insult to the people that do them."

Potter shapes art world - By STEPHEN FORBES - Western Leader, 22/12/2009
Internationally renowned potter and ceramics artist Len Castle’s work has been displayed around the globe.
... He enrolled in night classes at Avondale College under the tutelage of Robert Nettleton Field, a highly regarded sculptor and painter.

The Wellingtonian Editorial: Wellingtonian of the Year - The Wellingtonian, 22/12/2009, The Wellingtonian interview: Hilary Beaton
OPINION: The accolade of Wellingtonian of the Year is not easily earned, because the field is so strong.
... It was a traumatic year for many Wellingtonians because of the slaughter by the National Government of the adult community education programme. The grim effects of this will be felt next year.
No-one made more sense on this issue than Robyn Hambleton, Wellington High School's adult community education supremo.

Cuts take ACE champion - By KRIS DANDO - Kapi-Mana News, 22/12/2009
One of the loudest voices of the campaign to keep night classes alive admitted defeat last week, walking away from the job she has loved for more than 20 years.

A year of bumps on the political road - TVNZ, Tuesday December 22, 2009, By tvnz.co.nz's Gerard Counsell
... Funding cuts to adult and community education night classes brought dismayed students out in protest. The government slashed the allocation from $16 million to $3 million, saying it would no longer pay for what it called hobby courses. Education Minister Anne Tolley said the recession was a time to focus on basic skills like literacy and numeracy.

Adult education funding cuts hit home for Kiwis - By MICHELLE COOKE, East And Bays Courier, 16/12/2009
Andrea Hawes is one of more than 200,000 New Zealanders who will feel the impact of the Adult Community Education funding cuts.

Parsimonious motivations, educational dogmatism and political folly: Contextualizing cuts to adult community education,

Adams, P. & O’Neill, J. New Zealand Journal of Teachers’ Work, Volume 6, Issue 1, 1-2, 2009

... What can we make of this? The relatively minor cost savings of 13 million dollars that the Budget cuts take from school-based ACE will directly affect the education of over 160,000 adults, result in up to 212 Adult Education Coordinators and 15,000 tutors losing their positions, and reduce the funding of many participating community groups from 2010. In effect, these relatively small-scale cuts (in relation to the overall education budget) are a major attack on the spirit of every local community in the country.  Read more

and check out the Teachers' Work website and Journal

The light bulb of learning is flickering so slow
Night classes as we know them are all set to go
From woodwork to Yoga, dancing and song
The isolated and lonely have come along

The tutors and students came from near and afar
To learn more about languages, or play the guitar
Many thousands of Kiwis have been through our doors
A fact that our government conveniently ignores

Now the time has come Walrus Tolley has said
To ditch ACE funding and go private instead
So to all of our learners, and tutors out there
This short sighted decision has made this quite clear

So let’s make the most of what we have left
Enjoy the classes and don’t feel bereft
Night classes will come back out of the dark
We all need to learn and continue to spark

The failed policies of past ages are set to repeat
Rogered by Ruthless politicians from easy street
But we will endeavour to help you along the way
For those who can afford it, it will be user pay.

Pam Ringrose

PPTA News November 2009, p. 14

If you are concerned about the cut in funding to Adult and Community Education in schools, you can contact, by email or letter:

• Your local MP - especially if they are National MPs
• AnneTolley, the Minister of Education
• Trevor Mallard, Opposition Spokesman for Education
• Letter to the Editor of your local paper

It is FREE to write to any MP.  You just have to send it to FREEPOST Parliament, PO Box 18888, Wellington.

If you want to e-mail or phone any of the above you will find their contact details at http://www.parliament.nz

Any comments you make should include your name and contact details.

Tell them how Adult and Community Education classes have made a difference to your life; describe your ‘story'.

• Did you enjoy learning and participating in the course?
• Do you feel confident about participating in future courses?
• Have you acquired new skills?
• Have you had the chance to practice existing skills?
• Have you met and mixed with new people?
• Are you motivated to continue learning?

Go to the website Stop Night Class Cuts!

YOUR VOICE COUNTS. YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE - ACT TODAY!