Banners approaching House of Commons
Noise demo in the queue for the House of Commons
"Save ESOL!" chant outside Parliament
A Huddersfield Tech ESOL student speaks at the rally
"ESOL" placard on Millbank
Tower Hamlets College placards
Banner outside Parliament
There were students and teaching staff from all over London, and coaches continued to arrive from as far afield as Huddersfield and Sheffield throughout the day. The queue of students waiting to clear security to lobby their MPs quickly overwhelmed the security staff at the Houses of Parliament - this despite 'fast tracking' ESOL lobbyists in the queue. The Central Lobby and the Committee Room booked for the event were quickly filled to capacity, and many lobbyists had to go to a nearby overflow meeting at the Emmanuel Church in Marsham Street, where speakers from the lobby meeting in Parliament came to speak as well. The lobby started at 11am, but at 3pm, ESOL students were still waiting in the rain to get in to see their MPs, with more students still arriving at Westminster. Veteran trade union organisers said they had never seen a lobby this size in 25 years. The lobby moved to the overflow venue when the queue hit 500, but stewards estimate a total of 1,000 came through in total.
Many students had written to or emailed their MPs for the first time in lessons earlier in the week. Lambeth College ESOL students began the day with a march through Brixton on their way to Parliament. Tower Hamlets College arrived at Parliament with a noise demonstration that blocked traffic, and carried colourful banners including "Make ESOL not War" and "Rammell=Unsustainable", a reference to the Minister for Lifelong Learning Bill Rammell who announced the cuts to free ESOL provision in October. Rammell, who faced a 45-minute grilling by MPs, trade unionists and students in the lobby meeting today, announced he would make an announcement on some concession in the next few weeks.
The government plans to start charging 33 per cent of fees to ESOL students who are not on benefits or working tax credit. Asylum seekers over 19 will lose their right to free ESOL classes. Barry Lovejoy of teachers'' union UCU said "Part of the confusion today this morning is because we're so succesful in getting people out." Charles, a Level 2 ESOL student from Huddersfield Technical College, asked how "people are to acheive integration if they cannot speak English." Many teachers at the rally said they had the full support of their College Principals and senior managment. Acton College closed classes to bring students to the lobby.
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Comments
Hide the following 6 comments
this is brilliant!
28.02.2007 19:10
long live learning languages - opening up worlds to us and within us!
ex esol teacher
you must learn english... but we'll take away the places where you can do that
01.03.2007 09:30
Shame on you, New Labour, and big cheer for all the students and teachers who took part in this lobby.
english speaker
Stop the Cuts
01.03.2007 11:41
John
e-mail:
jbudis@tower.ac.uk
Breaking the Language Barriers or not?
01.03.2007 22:02
Relating to the implications of the changes in funding for asylum seekers, there were quite a few case studies brought up. One of which was a young man from Afghanistan that came to the UK as an asylum seeker with little English and is now studying for a degree at Coventry university.
Two learners froma Birmingham college spoke of their experiences in Afghanistan before seeking asylum in Britain. The one spoke of how he came to the UK because he had heard that the UK was a country that had respect for human rights. He said that without education and knowledge of the English language it is just like he is blind and deaf. It was mentioned the Taliban had taken away his right to an education and that now the British government was doing the same. He also spoke of his experiences, how he had been imprisoned by the Taliban and then mistakenly by the US army. He mentioned that he felt that if his right to an education was taken away it would feel that he was imprisoned again.
A section from the report that was commissioned by what was the DfEE ‘Breaking the Language Barriers’ (2000) was quoted by an ESOL lectuer which reads:
‘ There is also a significant national waste of potential in failing to make the best use of people with professional qualifications and experience, for example in areas of skill shortage, like the medical professions, who are cut off from employment by their lack in fluency in English’
An example of an asylum seeker was cited who studied English in a beginner’s class at an FE college and then went on to teach a shortage subject (numeracy) at the same college a few years later. The individual began the college ESOL course after only being in the country two weeks. It was mentioned that he may not have progressed as rapidly had he not been entitled to English tuition from the beginning. It was suggested that this was an excellent example of public funds well spent.
An ESOL lecturer who works with the 14-16 year old ESOL learners mentioned that despite the fact that these measures will not apply to under 18s this will have a huge impact on children in asylum-seeking families. If parents are not entitled to language provision but their children are, the burden of translation and interpretation will inevitably fall on the children. Children often take on an adult role, often because they have better language skills than their parents, and are forced to engage in a number of inappropriate scenarios for example interpreting results of sensitive medical tests relating to rape or torture. It was mentioned that this would not be in line with ‘Every Child Matters’.
Maria
Maria Christ
e-mail:
mariachrist@aol.com
A voice at last
02.03.2007 17:12
Thanks for posting the photos.
Frances Nehme
e-mail:
frances.nehme@tiscali.co.uk
House of Commons ESOL debate on Wednesday @ 7pm
11.03.2007 23:53
Andrew Pelling
Andrew Pelling
e-mail:
pellinga@parliament.uk
Homepage:
http://www.andrewpelling.org.uk