Adult Learners’ Week is the UK’s largest festival of learning, and the overall purpose of the initiative is to raise demand for learning and skills. It highlights the benefits of learning of all kinds, learning for work, informal learning as well as learning for personal development. 14 to 20 May 2011 marks the twentieth Adult Learners’ Week in England.
The initiative continues to be the largest drive for learning of its kind - celebrated in over 55 countries across the world. Founded and co-ordinated by the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE), Adult Learners' Week in England is backed by thousands of supporters including the European Social Fund, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Next Step, BBC, Open University and Pearson PLC.
The year-long outreach programme engages over 100,000 adults, of all ages and backgrounds, to give learning a go every year, culminating in an influential festival of events, award ceremonies, significant media coverage and high-level advocacy activity. Highlights include:
- the Adult Learners’ Week Awards - celebrating outstanding learning journeys. These winners’ stories are used as case studies with the national, regional and local media to inspire to others to give learning a go, and in our continued advocacy work to make the case for adult learning;
- high-profile national events â€" including a Policy Conference, Parliamentary Reception and National Awards Ceremony ; and
- thousands of regional and local events by supporting organisations - in workplaces, libraries, museums, colleges, community centres, shops, cafes, prisons â€" and with a dedicated helpline for adults which receives up to 20,000 calls during the Week. In a survey of participants in 2010, 57% of the people who took part in activity enrolled on, or applied for, a course as a result of getting involved.
The Adult Learners’ Week website provides further information about Adult Learners’ Week, with details about the awards, award winners, and resources for events as well as a free calendar to record activities.