Continuing education at universities under further threat

The position of continuing studies programmes in some English universities is under immediate threat. This is due to the 'ELQ' policy introduced by the government. A statement from Reading University says:

"In September 2007, the Government announced the withdrawal of funding for students who are studying for a Higher Education qualification that is equivalent to, or lower than, a qualification that they have already been awarded (ELQ). This impacts most heavily on the University's School of Continuing Education public programmes, which are predominantly 10 week part-time open courses, and the Certificate in Higher Education."

It's ironic that this news is coming out in Reading and a number of other universities as the government launches its White Paper the 'Learning Revolution' with a commitment to increasing access to learning and open up educational institutions to more people.

Students on Reading's threatened continuing education courses have begun to organise themselves and produced a 'Let's save our brains' website on their campaign. You can visit it here.