Welfare Reform on the Web (April 2000): Education - UK - Training

ACCESS FOR ALL? A SURVEY OF POST-16 PARTICIPATION

Education and Employment Committee

London: TSO, 1999 (House of Commons papers. Session 1998-99; HC 57)

Investigation of why, despite the continuing increase in participation in post-compulsory education, stubborn trends of non-participation among disadvantaged sectors of the community persist. Report provides a brief summary of key trends and the current situation, then considers the value of learning to individuals and to the society as a whole, and finally identifies major factors that prevent people from engaging in learning and suggests ways in which the position can be improved.

SUSTAINED LEARNING FOR RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS? A RESEARCH NOTE ON INDIVIDUAL LEARNING ACCOUNTS

J. Hamblett and R. Holden

Human Resource Development International, vol. 2, 1999, p.415-419

Reports results of an evaluation of two models for the implementation of individual learning account accounts piloted by a consortium of TECs. Problems with ILAs revealed by the research include dead-weight (account holders who would have participated in learning irrespective of the ILA) and substitution (where employers used ILAs to fund their own training obligations). It was also found that vulnerable employees could be blackmailed into opening ILAs by unscrupulous employers.