Exploring the social and economic impacts of adult and community education

This report by the Western Australia-based Institute for Research into International Competitiveness considers the social and economic impacts of the adult and community education (ACE) sector. The study is exploratory, and the measured economic impacts vary widely under different assumptions.

This study begins with a national profile of adult and community education and is followed by details of a survey undertaken of ACE providers and students. The survey is used to consider qualitative impacts of adult and community education and to estimate its economic impacts.

Complementing other sectors of education, contributing to lifelong learning, and with the potential for students to bridge into vocational education and training (VET) and higher education, the adult and community education sector is a significant national economic player. A defining feature of adult and community education is its primary focus on learners and their needs, but there are no uniform national definitions or reporting requirements. ACE comprises education and training provided through a 'recognised' adult and community education sector, education and training delivered through devolved community-based providers, and non-vocational programs delivered by technical and further education (TAFE) and other organisations.

The National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) estimates that the sector serves over a million students a year, of whom 478 000 were reported to the VET data collection in 2000. New South Wales and Victoria account for a disproportionate share of reported adult and community education.

About 69% of reported ACE students in 2000 were females and only 6% were aged 1519, compared with 49% and 22% for all vocational education and training students. Reported adult and community education students are divided fairly evenly between the more traditional 'non-VET' recreational and life skills courses, and 'VET ACE', directly vocational adult and community education courses which have become more common in recent years. The bulk (84%) of all adult and community education training hours were college- or campus-based. New South Wales and Victoria could be said to fund a widely recognised, sectoral form of ACE; South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory fund a devolved adult and community education provider network; while other states and territories fund non-VET programs delivered by TAFE and VET programs delivered by other organisations.

The Institute for Research into International Competitiveness piloted and conducted a survey of adult and community education providers (about 300 respondents, mainly larger providers) and students (about 400 responses) in 2001. Only about 18% of the student respondents were primarily vocational, but in other respects they were fairly representative of the national adult and community education student profile.

Difficult as such things are to quantify, the provider and student surveys attest to the community and regional development role of adult and community education. ACE providers have strong links into their immediate communities and provide many life skills for community development. Particularly where people undertake recreational courses, adult and community education strengthens community bonds. In addition the sector's providers maintain a substantial component of volunteer labour that makes a substantial contribution to local communities.

Related to its community development role is the role the ACE sector plays in regional development. Half of the providers who responded to the survey were located in rural and regional Australia. Many would be the only post-compulsory education provider in a town, or even a region. Their role is intensified when, for example, a town loses a major employer. For the town to readjust and survive, the displaced resident workers will need to learn new skills.

The surveys and extra focus groups also highlight the benefits accruing to disadvantaged and special groups in the community who might not otherwise participate in learning or may have had negative educational experiences. Such groups include the long-term unemployed, people with disabilities, migrants and elderly people.

Adult and community education courses help long-term unemployed people to stay mentally active, build their skills and enable them to keep in touch with the local community. For people with disabilities, opportunities to participate and to learn in a formal setting are not always practicable, and the ACE sector offers an alternative. In the form of 'universities of the third age', adult and community education gives older people an outlet to learn - and also to teach - the social interaction thus enhancing their wellbeing.

For students from non-English-speaking backgrounds and Indigenous students, adult and community education was found to harness their teachers and community leaders, offering life and business skills to marginalised groups. Improvement of English skills through adult and community education enables migrants to interact and integrate more satisfyingly with the local community.

However, the national statistical profile indicates that some of these groups are currently under-represented in adult and community education. A challenge remains therefore to strengthen the links between ACE providers and VET providers in such a way that upholds the strengths of adult and community education, those of informal, localised and tutor-led delivery. The pathways need to be kept open for disadvantaged and special groups who have much to gain from the informal, non-intimidating nature of ACE.

As noted, many participants use adult and community education as a first step back into the world of organised learning.

In choosing a particular provider, the students surveyed valued course availability, proximity, and being at ease. In addition to recreational, life skills, and vocational benefits, they reported gains in satisfaction, confidence and friendships.

A number of the people interviewed said that adult and community education had given them the confidence to undertake further study. Over half (53%) of the students undertaking ACE for vocational reasons had gone on to more study in the sector (1.5%), in TAFE (88%) and university (10%). A further 8% proceeded from their ACE course to work directly.

The report includes Australian Bureau of Statistics data on the benefits that accrue to individuals, in terms of wage income premiums, for various types of education. They confirm the economic benefits that individuals can gain by progressing from adult and community education to other formal learning programs.

The report makes exploratory estimates of the overall net economic impact of adult and community education, taking into account net community-wide benefits as well as the calculated net benefits to individuals.

The calculations assume that the major economic benefit of adult and community education occurs through further educational qualifications, for which the sector has provided the pathway. The estimated private benefits accrued in this way are around $2.5 billion, depending on the assumptions that are made. This underlines the importance of the ACE sector in providing educational opportunities to those who otherwise might never think about undertaking further formal education.

Overall, the report highlights the diversity and richness of adult and community education but that the challenge remains to develop more consistent reporting of ACE nationally, and better concepts and measures that can be used to explore further its social and economic benefits .