Business

Sadiq Khan announces £135m funding for adult education

The London learner survey illustrated how important adult learning has been for the thousands of Londoners

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan (REUTERS/Toby Melville)

By: Pramod Thomas

LONDON mayor Sadiq Khan announced £135 million funding to help Londoners access learning and get into good jobs, a statement said.

The funding will support more than 100,000 Londoners as they retrain, learn or upskill and help them get into work in key sectors, the statement added.

The London learner survey, published on Tuesday (20), illustrated how important adult learning has been for the thousands of Londoners who have been supported through the mayors’ adult education budget (AEB) since 2019.

According to the statement, the AEB helped around 100,000 Londoners to get into new or better paid work or progressed their learning in 2021/22 and to improve earnings by 10 per cent.

The survey revealed that more than half of Londoners received a positive economic outcome once they completed their course, such as getting into work or accessing further learning.

Almost all Londoners reported improvements in social outcomes as a result of learning (96 per cent), which includes improved well being and confidence and the opportunity to meet new people.

Khan has funded free adult education for low-income and unemployed Londoners through his skills programmes. More than 800,000 Londoners have utilised the opportunity.

“This data shows that my adult education budget is working for London. Adult learning can be transformative and I’m so proud that this is helping Londoners get the skills they need to access good work and boost their earnings, as well as increasing their mental wellbeing and confidence,” Khan said.

“I’m committed to helping even more Londoners benefit from the adult training opportunities London has to offer, which is why I’m investing £135m in new programmes to help thousands more Londoners gain the skills they need to work in sectors crucial to London’s economy and future success. Adult education is key to helping to build a better London for everyone – a fairer and more prosperous city for all Londoners.”

The latest funding includes £115m for the jobs and skills for Londoners fund and £19m for Wave 4 of the skills bootcamps for Londoners to help tens of thousands more Londoners gain the skills they need to get into good work in London’s key sectors, including growing green industries.

Besides, an additional £1.2m investment in community outreach activity will help to reach Londoners less likely to engage in adult education and those who could benefit from increasing their numeracy skills through the London multiply programme.

Basirat Amure, achieved functional skills English and Maths in July 2022 and is currently undertaking GCSE English and Maths at Morley College Waterloo Centre.

Amure said, “Studying English and Maths at Morley has completely changed my outlook on life. It has empowered me and given me the confidence to pursue my career ambitions”

Piyaporn Lahr, who took part in the Amazon web service restart programme, said, “This gave me the confidence for interview preparation, and I have now landed a new role as a Trainee Cloud Engineer for a technology consultancy firm”

Gerry McDonald, association of colleges representative on the skills for Londoners board said: “Colleges across London can attest to the impact of the mayor’s adult education budget. From people taking their first steps in education, to those gaining industry-relevant skills to boost their careers, adult learning is having a transformational impact on Londoners.”