Cameron’s ESOL cuts will make integration harder

Sally Hunt is the general secretary of the University and College Union (UCU)

David-Cameron-immigration-speech-14-04-11 In a keynote speech on immigration today, a couple of weeks before elections, David Cameron conceded that immigration is a hugely emotive issue that must be handled with sensitivity.

Some might question how sensitive it is to then talk about ‘good’ and ‘mass’ immigration and warn immigrants that they must learn English, at a time when his government is slashing both funding and opportunities for people who desperately want to learn the language.

English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) has seen a cut of 32 per cent in funding in the last two years.

Furthermore, according to the Action for ESOL campaign, changes to eligibility for free ESOL classes will result in around 100,000 people, three-quarters of whom are women, being hit with fees of up to £1,200 – charges they simply cannot afford.

In a survey by the Association of Colleges, 75 per cent of colleges said they would have to reduce the amount of ESOL provision they provide if there were no concessions around the changes to who is entitled to free ESOL classes, because of their concern at students’ ability to pay the fees.

The cuts to further education funding are creating the most serious crisis for the future of ESOL the country has seen. If the government truly wants people to integrate and be part of its ‘big society’ then language is the key. Among the people learning ESOL that we speak to are those who have fled war-torn countries; they want to work and want to pay their way, but they need to be able to speak the language to do that.

The prime minister’s attack comes just days after his fact-free attack on Oxford University’s record of recruiting black students and seems symptomatic of a government keen to chase a headline but not keen to explore or understand the real problems behind an issue.

Learning English on arrival in this country is the best way to get people out of poverty and into their local communities. It is the responsibility of, and in the interests of, numerous government departments to ensure people are not excluded from being able to learn English and that must be reflected in who picks up the tab.

We, literally, cannot afford the most needy and vulnerable in society to become further marginalised through an inability to learn and speak the language of this country. Something the prime minister should consider before making ill-advised attacks on immigrants.

http://twitter.com/monkeysanchez/status/58504014307934208 Tina

RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's ESOL cuts will make integration harder: http://bit.ly/i5q7uM writes @UCU's Sally Hunt
http://twitter.com/danashley/status/58504851348389888 Dan Ashley

RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's ESOL cuts will make integration harder: http://bit.ly/i5q7uM writes @UCU's Sally Hunt
http://twitter.com/swithinbank/status/58506178824634368 Chris Swithinbank

RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's ESOL cuts will make integration harder: http://bit.ly/i5q7uM writes @UCU's Sally Hunt
http://twitter.com/shaziaarshad/status/58513615375974400 SHAZIA ARSHAD

RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's ESOL cuts will make integration harder: http://bit.ly/i5q7uM writes @UCU's Sally Hunt
http://twitter.com/jennybunker/status/58519324566093825 Jenny Bunker

RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's ESOL cuts will make integration harder: http://bit.ly/i5q7uM writes @UCU's Sally Hunt
http://twitter.com/rithompson/status/58592077155549184 Rosalind Thompson

RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's ESOL cuts will make integration harder http://bit.ly/h7zJpL << He says "learn English" & then cuts courses. #fail
http://twitter.com/banyancafe/status/58595360817414144 banyancafe

RT @johannhari101 Cameron "immigrants should learn English", then shuts down programs to teach immigrants English http://tinyurl.com/65nn9xg
http://twitter.com/hjasnoch/status/58599800811175937 Hendrik Jasnoch

Cameron says immigrants should learn English; shuts down programs that teach immigrants English http://t.co/w74ONHZ /via @johannhari101
http://twitter.com/alex_chase/status/58601547344527360 alex_chase

RT @LD_LDN: Cameron says immigrants should learn English, then shuts down the programs that teach English http://tinyurl.com/65nn9xg
http://twitter.com/jazzykeiko/status/58602330416881664 keiko

If it were not for English, I would not be what I am today. http://bit.ly/h7zJpL
http://twitter.com/alchemise/status/58609759250694144 Ben

Cameron says immigrants should learn English, then shuts down loads of the programs that teach immigrants English http://tinyurl.com/65nn9xg
http://twitter.com/finolak/status/58613380969275393 Finola Kerrigan

RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's ESOL cuts will make integration harder: http://bit.ly/i5q7uM writes @UCU's Sally Hunt
http://twitter.com/pedanticdave/status/58615345572884480 Dave Howard

RT @johannhari101: Cameron says immigrants should learn English,then shuts programs that teach immigrants English http://tinyurl.com/65nn9xg
http://twitter.com/mushkush/status/58616715017330688 MUSHKUSH

RT: @johannhari101: Cameron says immigrants shd learn English, then shuts programs that teach immigrants English http://tinyurl.com/65nn9xg
http://anpa2001.wordpress.com/2011/04/14/on-cameron-and-immigration-yes-another-one/ On Cameron and immigration (yes, another one) | a thousand things I want to say to you

[...] As well as maintaining their home language, immigrants do need access to English classes, ideally with crèches or vouchers to pay for childcare while they learn. But English classes are being cut . [...]
http://twitter.com/hull_phil/status/58636650447781888 Phil Hodgson

http://tinyurl.com/65nn9xg Cameron's two faced approach. Say what the Daily Mail wants to hear, while cutting the very funding it needs.
http://twitter.com/timdouglashr/status/58639037145153536 Tim Douglas

RT @paulstpancras: Cameron's ESOL cuts make integration harder http://bit.ly/i0tUr4
http://twitter.com/mskaydee/status/58764963946311680 KD

RT @alex_chase: RT @LD_LDN:Cameron says immigrants should learn English,then shuts down progs that teach English http://tinyurl.com/65nn9xg
http://twitter.com/phat_catz/status/58795029161971713 phat catz

Cameron wants immigrants to speak English but cuts funding for programs that teach immigrants English http://bit.ly/gDhXV7 #migrants
http://twitter.com/actionforesol/status/58803157190451200 Action for ESOL

Comment by Sally Hunt, UCU on ESOL cuts RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's ESOL cuts will make integration harder http://bit.ly/h7zJpL
http://twitter.com/cheseymour/status/58860274148573184 Celia Seymour

RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's ESOL cuts will make integration harder http://bit.ly/h7zJpL
http://twitter.com/cumbriavoice/status/58860388934094848 Cumbrian Parent

RT @CheSeymour: RT @leftfootfwd: Cameron's ESOL cuts will make integration harder http://bit.ly/h7zJpL
http://twitter.com/mariawolters/status/58905273905070080 Maria Wolters

If you want immigrants to, y'know, learn English and integrate, don't cut funding for ESOL classes: http://t.co/cnqPhiS (via many Tweeps)
http://twitter.com/blogsoftheworld/status/59772246809509888 blogs of the world

The government's cuts to English for Second Language classes make a mockery of the David C… http://reduce.li/6ql58b #harder