GE2015 – Another follow-up letter to Polly Billington re Education cuts

Here’s the full text of my follow-up letter to the Labour Parliamentary candidate for Thurrock regarding the cuts to the education budget.  Poor Ms Billington is probably regretting answering my e-mails now.

Dear Ms Billington,

I actually find that separating issues into different e-mails makes it easier to know what has been covered and what needs to be put aside for more reflection or research before replying so I hope I’m not bothering you with so many different e-mails.

As a Community Co-option governor for Thurrock Adult Community College (TACC) I hope, although the emphasis will be on the likes of South Essex College and any Technical (or other) university that may come into the area (and quite rightly so as they are the places most likely to be attended by the younger learners), that the community-driven learning provided by TACC will not suffer unduly should Labour take power.

Not only does the community college afford those with a less than perfect academic career behind them the chance to up-skill, gain confidence in new subjects and earn qualifications in a safe environment, it also serves as a place of community building.  I, myself, helped try to integrate people with mental health issues into the community with two mental health awareness events as part of my duties as a governor (with too much time on his hands, unfortunately).  How much good the events actually did is a matter of conjecture but it was the openness to new community building ideas that enabled the events to take place and I hope that Labour won’t forget the important role of community colleges like TACC to the general well-being of the community.

I completely understand that you cannot promise to reverse all of the cuts in education and no one really expects that to be a possibility, we are in an age of austerity after all.  It’s admirable that you are not willing to make promises you may not be able to deliver on, however, it would be nice to think that any savings that must be made aren’t made at the expense of community learning providers.

Regards,

Myles Cook

As usual, any reply will appear right here.