The Scottish Government

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4. ESOL in Scotland: Collaboration and co-ordination

Guiding principles

• Provision which supports migrant and refugee settlement, and aids inclusion and full participation in Scottish society and the economy
• Provision which is high quality, easily accessible, cost-effective and uses best practice in the teaching and learning of languages

Background

The ESOL report illustrated the complexities and speculative nature of quantifying ESOL demand, and thus the difficulties this presents in planning ESOL provision, in Scotland. ²² The same report also attributed the speculative nature of planning of provision to the absence of an 'accurate source of information on the number of people in Scotland who may require assistance with English' ²³ However, it estimated that there is a significant latent (not registered) and actual (registered) demand for ESOL that is not being met. ²⁴ Most of the actual demand, measured in the form of waiting lists, is in the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow. ²⁵ However anecdotal evidence suggests that it is a growing issue in other parts of the country. The report also found that there is a need to develop inter and intra sector cooperation. ²⁶ Both the report and the recommendations of the ESOL Steering and Working Groups identified co-ordination of ESOL provision across sectors and collation of data by funders and providers as an imperative, along with clarification on funding streams in community learning and development and FE (see Annex A).

The ESOL report also noted that around 65 per cent of ESOL learners found out about ESOL courses through friends while a further 13.5 per cent and 7 per cent found information on courses through job centres/colleges/health centres and advertisements respectively. ²⁷ Consequently, it recommended a website for promoting and providing information about learning opportunities and recommended that the publicity be written in a range of other community languages (see Annex A).

The changing demographics in recent years means that the spread of, and demand for, provision amongst New Scots, at least, can and has changed rapidly. This is further complicated by the fact that policy responsibility for immigration is reserved to the Home Office and thus sudden fluctuations in demand may also be caused by changes in dispersal policy. Amongst settled ethnic communities, quantifying latent demand has proved problematic. It is clear that a number of solutions at both national and local levels are needed. These are set out below.

Learning Link Scotland
Stakeholder Platform

Learning Link Scotland is the intermediary body for voluntary organisations engaged in adult education in Scotland. Learning Link Scotland supports the vision of the ESOL strategy, and its importance in assisting individuals to participate in and contribute to a fair and democratic Scottish society.

Learning Link Scotland recognises the social, political, economic and cultural benefits which individuals from diverse cultures bring to Scotland, and how ESOL facilitates their contribution to Scottish society. Additionally, we believe that values embodied in the ethos of the voluntary adult learning sector, such as equality, inclusion and empowerment, are rightly reflected in the strategy.

The voluntary sector encompasses a number of organisations working both as direct deliverers of ESOL training, and those who work with learners and communities, who may have ESOL needs, in another capacity, and is central to delivering the ESOL strategy and in supporting learners into ESOL, through identifying need and undertaking early interventions with excluded groups and individuals.

While statistics may suggest that ESOL provision within the voluntary sector is limited, voluntary organisations are often best placed to engage with potential learners, and to identify the need for provision. Voluntary organisations are also skilled in developing creative approaches to learning and using a learner-centred approach to planning and delivering training. Learning Link Scotland recognises the need for high quality provision through investment in practitioners and volunteers from all sectors, and also the development of tools and frameworks to support teaching.

Learning Link Scotland would welcome enhanced opportunities for engaging the voluntary sector in planning and provision, in developing collaborative partnership working across sectors to signpost learners to the most appropriate ESOL provision, and to provide support and advice for learners and potential learners. Ultimately, we would also hope to create a situation where learners experience seamless progression through opportunities, both within, and across sectors.

Learning Link Scotland has developed models for engaging a range of voluntary sector organisations, and learners themselves, in the planning and provision of adult learning services, and would hope to see these models extended to ESOL. We welcome new opportunities for sharing best practice, as well as making the best use of existing national and local infrastructures. Learning Link Scotland sees the ESOL strategy as an opportunity to integrate evidence-based practice with policy, as well as providing an interface between local and national decision-making and resourcing. We believe the strategy offers the prospect of identifying need, developing provision and measuring impact, both nationally and at local level.

Learning Link Scotland believes that ESOL requires needs-based, learner-centred provision, and that the voluntary sector will be a key partner in delivering this.

4.1 National solutions

We have considered the recommendations of both the ESOL report and the ESOL Steering and Working Groups in arriving at a solution for coordinating supply and demand for ESOL. These have also influenced our reflections on funding guidance and data collection. We are also acutely aware of the benefits of drawing on existing good practice and mechanisms. The solutions offered in this strategy will complement existing wider planning structures for both FE and CLD providers. These are intended to co-exist with Community Planning Process - as set out in the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 and the accompanying statutory guidance - and Community Learning and Development Strategies and Partnerships, as set out in Working and learning together to build stronger communities. The principles governing CLD partnerships' action plans (see page 14) will provide a useful tool for the proposed regional ESOL fora set out at section 4.2 below. New partnership structures will reflect the need to support community cohesion. This document recognises that, in developing the skills of individual ESOL learners, we are also developing and supporting Scotland's communities.

Co-ordination

The ESOL report suggested that the Scottish Executive appoint a national ESOL co-ordinator with funds that could be disbursed in the event of a sudden and unexpected surge in demand for ESOL. We feel that the appointment of one ESOL co-ordinator based in the Scottish Executive would be too distant from providers and would not be sufficiently representative of the many demands in the different sectors providing ESOL. We have also concluded that if data on provision and providers is more regular and robust, and liaison between sectors (locally, regionally and nationally) is strengthened, then there should be no reason to alter existing channels of applying resource.

We recommend that a national ESOL panel be set up to consider the quantity and quality of ESOL provision in Scotland. This panel would be independently chaired by a Scottish Executive appointee ²⁸ and each of the following sectors/organisations would be represented: FE; CLD; voluntary sector; the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities ( COSLA); Scottish Enterprise ( SEn); Highlands & Islands Enterprise ( HIE); the Scottish Trades Union Congress ( STUC) ²⁹; the Scottish Qualifications Authority ( SQA); Jobcentre Plus ( JC +); the Scottish Widening Access Fora ³⁰; the Scottish Refugee Council; and the National Union of Students (Scotland). We envisage this panel meeting quarterly. We envisage the role and remit of the National ESOL Panel being as follows:

• Advice and Monitoring: Advising the Scottish Executive ( SE), Learning Connections ( LC), COSLA and the Scottish Funding Councils ( SFCs) on ESOL supply and demand, monitoring the implementation of this Strategy, and - through an Annual report and routine contact with officials in both Learning Connections and the Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department - informing policy developments. The National ESOL Panel would produce and submit an annual report to Scottish Ministers reporting on the supply, demand and quality of Adult ESOL provision across public sector post compulsory providers;
• Communication and Promotion: The National ESOL Panel would provide the regional ESOL fora with strategic advice on direction. In addition, it would keep the regional ESOL fora (and local partnerships, ESOL providers and practitioners) apprised of developments in different parts of the country and national initiatives. This would include disseminating and promoting good practice. This could be achieved through a system of electronic newsletters, a website (with details of training, meetings and courses advertised on it) along with an annual national conference; and
• Representation: To represent the views of ESOL practitioners, providers and students in discussions with SE, LC, COSLA, SQA, SFCs, and other stakeholder bodies of ESOL qualifications.

SE- ETLLD and Learning Connections would facilitate the establishment of the National ESOL Panel and aid the National ESOL Panel in the constitution of the regional ESOL fora. The Scottish Executive would set up a fund to support the administration of the National ESOL Panel and the regional ESOL fora (for details, see section 4.2) . The National ESOL Panel and the Scottish Executive should ensure that the regional fora and providers work closely with the local authority EAL (English as an Additional Language) service and with relevant local partnerships. ³¹

Promotion

Much of the promotion of ESOL initiatives needs to be considered at a local level. ESOL promotion has both a national and local dimension.

The National ESOL Panel should develop its own website with availability of ESOL provision promoted, along with links to regional ESOL fora which could direct prospective students to providers. They should also include details of forthcoming professional development and student network events, a teaching and learning materials databank as well as helpful links to sources of information, advice and guidance for providers and students (see section 6). All of these websites should be available in the main community languages (to be determined by main demand in the localities). The regional ESOL fora should also work with local Jobcentre Plus offices, the newly constituted Community Health Partnerships, Learndirect Scotland and its centres (with ESOL provision being included on the national Learning Opportunities Database), the Black and Ethnic Minority Infrastructure in Scotland ( BEMIS) and the Scottish Refugee Council to promote places on local ESOL courses as a way of reaching out to all potential ESOL learners. ³² The National ESOL Panel should also issue a quarterly newsletter including updates from the eight regional ESOL fora.

National Association for Teaching English and other Community Languages to Adults ( NATECLA)
Stakeholder Platform

NATECLA welcomes the development of an Adult ESOL strategy for Scotland. We wish to express our support for the following aspects of the draft strategy:

1. The proposed National Panel for ESOL and the regional for a
   This development is an appropriate and democratic way of improving quality of provision across Scotland. It will ensure that good practice and resources are shared and taken up in all areas. Cross- sectoral co-operation is also essential for quality improvement and this development will promote a partnership approach amongst providers and stakeholders.
2. Professional development pathways
   NATECLA supports and encourages the development of training for ESOL practitioners and we believe that the proposals outlined for CPD will lead to increasing professionalisation in Scotland.
3. A National curriculum for ESOL
   In England and Wales there is a National Curriculum for ESOL as part of the Skills for Life strategy. We support the development of a national curriculum in Scotland, and believe that this will encourage the mainstreaming of ESOL. In developing the curriculum, it is important to take into account the 'lessons learned' from Skills for Life; in particular, curricular development should retain flexibility in order to cater for the needs of all ESOL learners.
4. Best practice support
   This is a practical initiative and it has already been successfully used in England and Wales as a strategy for sharing materials and methodology at national level. Linking to HMIE frameworks is crucial for mainstreaming ESOL.
5. ESOL + literacies
   The majority of ESOL learners benefit from a language learning approach. For the small group who have ESOL + literacies needs, we welcome the development of the new PDA. However, the definition of an ESOL + literacies learner: ' A person who has little or no literacy in his/her own mother-tongue and who has little or no literacy in English and whose spoken English may range from basic to fluent.' is not adequate for this category of learner; within ESOL, a literacies learner may or may not be literate in mother tongue; literacies learners are defined as those for whom English is a script language.

4.2 Local/regional solutions

As the ESOL report noted, a few local ESOL fora exist in different parts of the country. ³³ In addition, we recognise the commitment of ESOL practitioners at a local level in building links with voluntary organisations, universities and local enterprise companies, particularly for asylum seekers and refugees, to provide more progression options for learners (see below). However, it is clear that this is not consistent across the country, largely because of the speed at which demand for ESOL has grown in parts of the country and also the complexities of ascertaining and meeting latent demand. A number of planning and partnership mechanisms also exist already. For example, there are 32 CLD partnerships which produce CLD strategies and action plans and 11 SFEFC areas which produce area supply and demand studies. ³⁴ There are also 23 local enterprise companies and fora (12 in Scottish Enterprise ( SEn) network and 11 in Highlands & Islands Enterprise ( HIE) with strategic priorities. ³⁵ We feel that a different model is needed to support this strategy which is more suitable to the outlay of demand. The size and geographical spread of fora are simply proposals and as such are open to debate in the consultation.

We propose that regional ESOL fora be set up covering eight nominal areas ³⁶:

• South West (Dumfries & Galloway, South and East Ayrshire, and South Lanarkshire);
• South East (Scottish Borders and East Lothian);
• Central West (Argyll and Bute, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow City, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire);
• Central (Clackmannanshire, Falkirk, North Lanarkshire, Stirling and West Lothian);
• Central East (City of Edinburgh and Mid Lothian);
• Fife and Tayside (Angus, Dundee City, Fife, Perth & Kinross);
• Highlands & Western Isles (Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Highland, and Moray); and
• North East and Northern Isles (Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands).

These fora should be constituted of representatives from the FE sector, CLD partnerships, student bodies, local authorities and from local businesses (see also progression). Their activities should also take cognisance of Community Planning Processes. The main tasks of these fora would be as follows:

• Signposting Learner Need: To help providers ensure the best possible match between learner demand and needs, on the one hand, and high quality programmes, on the other;
• Advice: To advise the National ESOL Panel on ESOL provision across their areas and raise awareness of local developments which might be used as national models of good practice;
• Collaboration and representation: To facilitate and encourage the development of local partnerships and schemes between ESOL (and the EAL service in schools) providers, businesses, local government, wider educational provision and community development (see section 6);
• Communication and promotion: To raise awareness of staff development opportunities for ESOL practitioners and support staff both locally and nationally, and of statutory developments. This information should also be shared with staff teaching EAL in schools.

The inaugural task of the National ESOL Panel will be the establishment of the regional ESOL fora.

Proposed planning and consultation model

We envisage that the National ESOL Panel and the regional fora will be the hub of ESOL collaboration and consultation in the future. Their establishment and successful operation is central to this strategy.

4.3 Guidance on funding and measurable targets

We agree with the joint recommendation that funding streams need to be clarified to both the CLD partnerships and FE colleges. We recommend that the relevant bodies clarify eligibility criteria for funding of provision where necessary. A short-life working group has already been set up - representing the CLD managers group, COSLA, Learning Connections, SFEFC, SQA and the Scottish Executive - to consider the detailed costs of the strategy and measurable targets.

4.4 Collaboration and Co-ordination: summary of recommendations

We recommend that:

1. A National ESOL Panel be established, supported by the Scottish Executive, with role, remit and membership as set out in this section;
2. Eight regional ESOL fora be established with role, remit and membership as set out in this section;
3. The National ESOL Panel and regional ESOL fora facilitate closer links between local ESOL providers and employers, LEFs, LECs, and providers of other learning opportunities (where not within the same institution);
4. The SFCs and Learning Connections, in consultation with SE- ETLLD, issue guidelines on funding eligibility and data collection as set out in this section; and
5. The Scottish Executive and Learning Connections ensure that there is co-ordination of policy on ESOL and EAL.

Consultation questions

Q.3 Are the National ESOL Panel and Regional Fora the right means to encourage closer collaboration between providers, learners, ESOL practitioners and end users of ESOL, and for planning and meeting ESOL demand?

Q.4 Can you suggest other means of aiding closer local and national collaboration over ESOL provision?

Q.5 Do you think these measures will help to enable the better matching of supply with demand? If not, how could it be better managed?

Q.6 Do you agree with the recommended methods of publicising provision and staff development opportunities? How could a website for ESOL best be used?

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