The Scottish Government

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3. PURPOSE AND CONTEXT

This strategy focuses on the provision of publicly funded ESOL in Scotland for a community of learners which includes asylum seekers and refugees, along with settled minority ethnic communities. ³ For the purposes of this strategy, adult ESOL learners are defined as those for whom English is not a first language and who need spoken and written English for everyday life and to participate in the labour market, learning, their local communities and wider society. Scotland also has a thriving commercial EFL (English as a Foreign Language) sector. Whilst we recognise the contribution that this sector makes to Scotland's economy and reputation at home and abroad, this strategy focuses on publicly funded provision. The proposals in this consultation paper are subject to views offered by those contributing to the consultation. They also reflect the recognition that much can be done through closer collaboration and coordination within the existing capacity of currently funded provision. The outcomes of the consultation exercise will highlight the existing capacity across the various ESOL providers, and any proposals for additional resources will take this into account to be considered in line with other Executive priorities. However, in the intervening period, resource has been made available for some development activity related to quality.

Coherent provision and consistent high quality will benefit all learners within ESOL and EFL provision. This strategy therefore encourages the recognition and sharing of transferable tenets of good practice. Furthermore, in Scotland, ESOL learners are often integrated into mixed classes irrespective of residency status. Recent research suggest that this is a highly successful delivery model. ⁴

Recent research into ESOL provision in Scotland, carried out to inform this strategy, indicated that 71 per cent of all ESOL students enrolled were learners who had settled in Scotland and needed English to participate more fully in Scottish society or the economy, with around 10 per cent being international students who had come to Scotland with the specific purpose of studying English. ⁵ Just under 80 per cent of student enrolments were in further education colleges (this includes outreach provision funded through local authorities or CLD partnerships), at least 18 per cent in CLD partnership provision, and around 3 per cent within the voluntary sector .⁶ It is important to note that CLD partnerships are cross-sectoral, with FE colleges and voluntary sector bodies as full, active partners, and in many instances, have a key role in co-ordinating and developing ESOL provision across sectors. During 03/04, there were over 9,000 enrolments for publicly funded ESOL classes. ⁷ The same research indicates a degree of unmet demand. ⁸

Changing Demographics

Since 2000, the demographics of ESOL provision in Scotland have changed considerably. There have been two reasons for this. Firstly, Glasgow City Council's agreement with the National Asylum Support Service ( NASS), under which the number of asylum seekers and refugees settled in Glasgow grew from 500-600 in 2000 to between 10,000 and 11,000 in 2004. ⁹ Much smaller numbers of refugees have subsequently moved to other parts of Scotland. ¹⁰ The most recent stage of EU enlargement has also seen an increase in the number of migrant workers coming from EU accession states to work across Scotland. ¹¹ The numbers of people coming to live and work in Scotland, who may need access to ESOL provision, will increase with the advent of the First Minister's Fresh Talent Initiative. The Fresh Talent Initiative aims to encourage people to come and live and work in Scotland and acknowledges the contribution which New Scots are making and can make to Scotland's economy. ¹²

ESOL providers in the further education, community learning and development and voluntary sectors have risen admirably to the challenges which this sudden growth in demand presented. They have striven to provide ESOL learners with sufficient access to ESOL classes and support to enable them to participate more fully in their local communities and society. To meet increased pressures on the FE college sector arising from a rise in demand for ESOL and other provision stimulated by the influx of asylum seekers and refugees since 2000, the Scottish Executive made an additional £5.4 million available to FE colleges to pay for part-time ESOL and non-advanced and advanced (from March 2003) vocational courses between 2001 and 2004. ¹³ Also, in at least two cases, employers (one in the South West and another in the North East) have shown a willingness to fund ESOL provision for their migrant workers. ¹⁴

In 2003, the Scottish Refugee Integration Forum ( SRIF) recommended the development of a national (Scottish) strategy for ESOL (action 51) ¹⁵. The recommendations of the SRIF action plan were endorsed by Scottish Ministers and Life Through Learning; Learning Through Life (2003) pledged the Scottish Executive to, 'implement the relevant recommendations of the Scottish Refugee Integration Forum with regard to the creation of learning opportunities for refugees and asylum seekers'. ¹⁶ Changes to UK naturalisation regulations - under the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 - have also contributed to an increase in demand for ESOL provision in Scotland. These regulations stipulate that an applicant for British citizenship has to show, 'sufficient knowledge of a language [English, Welsh or Scots' Gaelic]' to be determined by possession of 'a specified qualification'. ¹⁷ These are now being extended, under the Home Office's five year strategy, to include all those who have permanent leave to remain in the UK. ¹⁸ The development of an ESOL Strategy for Scotland is also a key component of the Executive's commitment to the formulation of a national languages strategy for Scotland.

Community Learning & Development Managers Scotland ( CLDMS)
Stakeholder Platform

CLDMS welcomes the Scottish Executive's commitment to expand and improve opportunities for ESOL students. The draft strategy endorses the good work already being developed in local CLD partnerships under the banner of lifelong learning. This consultation should establish principles in which more and better opportunities can be developed to suit the needs of this important community of learners, and to fit local circumstance. The proposed national framework may be desirable but will require more resources to be effective. Resource implications must be thoroughly examined, and any funding that becomes available to partnerships should be utilised to produce maximum impact.

The primary purpose of CLD work with regard to ESOL students is to support citizenship training, and vocational and language skills development. The ESOL student should be able to access guidance and support at a local level in order to participate in person-centred services, to ensure not only inclusion but to develop individual progression routes and achieve personal negotiated goals. Learning styles and ethos should be developed in line with the key principles of CLD as described in Working and Learning Together to Build Stronger Communities ( WALT). Definitions of ESOL learners need to be clear and in keeping with these principles.

We advise against setting up new structures for ESOL instead of using existing community planning, CLD and Literacies partnerships, where the needs of ESOL students are already being planned for and in some cases met. Support from Learning Connections and other national agencies are aligned to these structures. It is potentially divisive to view this community of learners separately from the communities where they live and work. Colleagues from FE/ HE, the enterprise companies, and the voluntary sector are already linked to these partnerships to ensure choice and progression for learners, subject to current available funding.

Developing the Strategy: Stage One: ResearchStage One: Research

Until 2005, research data on the supply and demand of ESOL in Scotland was patchy and largely limited to the Glasgow ESOL Survey Report (2000). ¹⁹ The Scottish Executive's Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department, in conjunction with Learning Connections ²⁰, commissioned research to map all ESOL provision and demand across Scotland in May 2004 - The National 'English for Speakers of Other Languages' ( ESOL) Strategy: Mapping Exercise and Scoping Study (hereafter referred to as the ESOL report) - to provide some robust figures on demand for, type, quantity and quality of provision in Scotland as a basis upon which to formulate a national ESOL strategy.

Developing the Strategy: Stage Two: Consultation Process

The research was overseen by Scottish Executive's Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department ( SE- ETLLD) and an ESOL Steering Group. The latter was chaired by a member of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education ( HMIE) and composed largely of ESOL practitioners, along with representatives of the Scottish Refugee Council, Communities Scotland and the SQA (See Annex B). The national ESOL mapping exercise and scoping study, carried out by researchers at the University of Abertay, was published in January 2005.

The research was also complemented by a series of recommendations from the ESOL Steering Group, delivered to ETLLD in February 2005. We have used these documents, along with examples of international good practice, to inform the development of this strategy. ²¹ The latter part of this process has been overseen by the national ESOL Strategy Group (see Annex B) supported by a number of advisers retained from the original ESOL steering and working groups. We have received feedback on the consultation document from a number of relevant stakeholder bodies (see stakeholder platform statements throughout this paper). Between July and October 2005, a public consultation (on-line, by post and at four events around the country) will be held on the draft strategy.

The purpose of this document is to provide a blueprint for the direction and structure of ESOL provision in Scotland and support for the ESOL teaching community in their delivery of, and further professionalisation for, ESOL in the 21 ^st century. In this, the strategy is aided by the enthusiasm and commitment of practitioners, and existing developments from within the profession.

Consultation questions

Q.1. Do you agree with this vision?

Q.2. Do you agree with these guiding principles and how we have defined them?

Convention of Scottish Local Authorities ( CoSLA)
Stakeholder Platform

The COSLA Refugee and Asylum Seeker Consortium is pleased to have the opportunity to comment on the consultation regarding the development of an adult ESOL strategy for Scotland.

One of the Consortium's key objectives is to secure support from the Scottish Executive for the role of local government and the Consortium in ensuring that refugees can help Scotland to balance its skills gap and declining ageing population. The provision of access to English language learning is one of the most crucial aspects of integrating refugees and other migrants into Scottish life.

The recent extension of the European Union to include the 10 new Accession states also requires a strategic response to ensure that access to English language learning is available across the whole of Scotland and covers appropriate language groups.

The COSLA Refugee and Asylum Seeker Consortium, as a member of the Scottish Refugee Integration Forum, fully supports the recommendation to develop a national Scottish strategy for ESOL and sees the establishment of the National Panel as a key part of the process. The suggested combinations of local authority areas for the eight proposed fora is welcomed as this will help enable appropriate local solutions to be worked out and avoid lengthy travelling for necessary meetings.

The main tasks of the fora, as outlined, are clear and consistent and will undoubtedly assist in the development of the Strategy. Involvement of appropriate personnel from local authorities in these fora will clearly contribute to the process.

As the organisation representing local government and its interests in Scotland, COSLA is uniquely placed to assist in providing relevant representatives for a National Panel.

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