Night-class teachers protest cuts

Night-school teachers hope to alert politicians to the real impact of Budget cuts at a rally and march in Auckland this week.

Those protesting against the Government's decision to cut 80 per cent of funding for adult community education will gather at Mt Roskill Intermediate school hall tonight at 7pm and on Saturday will march up Queen St.

Linda Melrose, the co-ordinator for adult community education at Onehunga High School, said the sector wanted the Government to listen to the communities affected by the decision.

There had been no consultation before the Budget announcement that funding would be cut from $16 million to $3 million. National representatives have been present at one of 15 meetings held around the country.

The national president of the Community Learning Association through Schools, Maryke Fordyce, Onehunga High School principal Deidre Shea and Mrs Melrose met Education Minister Anne Tolley last month. She concluded the meeting by saying the decision had been passed into the hands of Prime Minister John Key.

Mrs Melrose said the night-class community was "not impressed" Mr Key will not attend tonight's meeting.

An OECD report to be released tomorrow will focus on the economic returns and social outcomes of education. One of the main conclusions of the 2009 edition of Education at a Glance is that while employment markets are still weak, it is a good time to invest in education.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria said education had always been a critical investment "for the future, for individuals, for economies and for societies at large".

"In today's economic environment, the incentives for individuals to invest time and money in education are higher than ever," he said.

A PricewaterhouseCoopers report last year estimated the economic impact of $4.8 billion to $6.3 billion annually equated to a return on investment of between $54 and $72 for each dollar of funding.

Mrs Melrose said it was unrealistic to expect night students to take up programmes at polytechnics and universities instead.

For second-chance learners and migrants the classes were too expensive, the locations too difficult to get to and the large institutions were the "scariest place they can go".

She said Mrs Tolley's statements about night classes being about "hobby courses" were misleading. Half of the 600 classes offered at Onehunga High School were for business, English for speakers of overseas languages and computing.