Defend Jobs and Education

Tower Hamlets College Strikers: Unanimous Support from Different Sectors of the Community

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 16:35:00 -0700

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Students Speak Out in Support of Striking Teachers at Tower Hamlets College

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 16:16:14 -0700

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Interview About Tower Hamlets College Strike

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 16:13:22 -0700

Listen!

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An Open Letter to principal Michael Farley Tower Hamlets College

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:03:00 -0700

Photo by deirdrekgill

This is in response Michael Farley's letter: "Your absence from the College" sent to staff last week.

Dear Michael,

I am sorry you are disappointed at me for having chosen not to attend work but I feel I had no other option than doing this to be listened to.

I am not going to make a speech (there have been already many) but with all my respects, I would like to tell you a few things:

1. The UCU has NOT asked students not to enrol, we would never manipulate students.

2. I strongly believe that the strike has not had any major impact on recruitment, as we have not turned anyone away. This is an issue that the College should address (it should have been addressed some years ago) as this decrease has been happening for a few years now.

3. You said in your letter: "It saddens me that your decision not to come to work has had a direct effect on those that Tower Hamlets College is there to educate".

It saddens me even more that you, as the Principal, and the SMT of this College have not fought enough before giving up and taking the decision of cutting courses.

You said that "the difficult decisions that we have arrived at are necessary ... and we need to get on with this academic year".

You cannot possibly imagine how much we desire to solve this situation and come back to work but we cannot possibly do it under these conditions.

I totally disagree with you when you said that the decisions you took are necessary, necessary for what? or for who? We are asking for less than 1% of the budget to keep courses running and give an opportunity to everyone who wants to study.

These cuts and these decisions are affecting specially the most vulnerable people in the community (mainly adults but also teenagers who were not successful at school and come without qualifications, specially those with 18 or 19 years old), the people who need this opportunity the most.

A big part of a College is about second chances and we have been long proud of having students coming to vocational courses (who probably would not be accepted somewhere else) without confidence in themselves at all and see them growing and passing from Vocational Options to Level 1, Level 2, A levels or diplomas and even going to university.

It is a powerful feeling to see students recovering their confidence and believing that they can achieve whatever they want. It does such an impact on their lives that we are devastated with the possibility of leaving them out.

If there have been only one student who benefited from using our (College) money, it would be well used, it would be worth it. I am sad to see that you do not think the same.

You also talked about the concessions that have been made by management. It is deeply sad that these concessions were made after all our protests and we would not have achieved them (the students would not have them) without "our fights" when it is been proven to be possible. I also would not call them ‘concessions’; they should be 'rights'.

I am going to finish by saying that I would stand by a principal who believes that education is the base of society, a principal who, during difficult times, when the government is making cuts to public services, specially to education, uses all his power and influences to fight against it, a principal who puts education the first, who understands that every child matters and who will do whatever he has to do to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to study and be educated.

We all hope to hear from you soon and solve the situation for the benefit of our students and the College.

Thank you for taking the time and the trouble to read this in this busy time.

Kind regards

A Tower Hamlets College Lecturer

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Come Support Tower Hamlets College Strikers - 12 September

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:34:08 -0700

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Indefinite Striket at Tower Hamlets College - Catch Up [27 August]

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 16:33:51 -0700

Photo: Jess Hurd

We've been so busy organising the strike, that the blog has been somewhat neglected.

To remedy this, there will be a series of catch-up posts of what has been happening since 26 August.

27 August

Mass pickets at Bethnal Green, Arbour Square and Poplar centres.

University and College Union (UCU) National Office confirmed their full support for all out indefinite strike action.

Pickets started at 7.30am. As you can imagine, at that time of the morning it's cold and dark so huge kudos to those hardy folks for coming out at that time.

Students gave their full support to the strike by refusing to cross the picket line.
You may not know this but the majority of students affected by the cuts are socially excluded Muslim women from the Bangladeshi and Somali communities and other second language communities.
Many had already lost their places in English classes and hundreds on waiting lists for classes will not receive a place.
Many students, who were tired and fasting during Ramadan, chose to show their protest against the cuts by turning back and withholding their enrolment.

There was some senior management and police interference with legitimate picketing activities at Poplar and Arbour Square, but pickets continued with perfectly lawful activity despite these irritants.

Did you know ...

during the first day of enrolment, senior management drafted people from all areas of the college, including finance department and media department!

some senior management left their 'temple' (Poplar site) to man the main entrance at Arbour Square, essentially locking out teaching staff

Colin 'the Hatchet' Henderson, finance director, deigned to visit Arbour Square and even took a turn manning the Arbour Square entrance!

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How You Can Support Striking Lecturers at Tower Hamlets College [Part 2]‏‏

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 17:05:59 -0700

Photo

We are asking for your help in supporting the strikers who are suffering financially.

Here's what you can do

Take a collection at work

Make a direct bank transfer to:
Account: UCU Arbour Square
Sort Code: 089299
Account Number: 65252262
Bank: The Cooperative Bank

Send cheques payable to "UCU Arbour Square" to
UCU Tower Hamlets College
c/o LARC
62 Fieldgate Street
London E1 1ES

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How You Can Support Striking Lecturers at Tower Hamlets College [Part 1]

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 16:12:00 -0700

We are entering our third week of indefinite strike action at Tower Hamlets College.

And pickets start at 7.30am.

As you can imagine it's cold and dark at that time of the morning.

Come and visit us on the picket lines. Say hello and make our day.

We are at:

Poplar E14 0AF

Arbour Square E1 0PT

Bethnal Green E2 6AB

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All Out Indefinite Strike at Tower Hamlets College

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:41:40 -0700

Find out why teaching staff are fighting back

At a meeting on Wednesday 26 August 2009, University & College Union officials (UCU) reported that they had met with Tower Hamlets College principal, Michael Farley and the finance director, Colin Henderson on the previous day in a last ditch attempt to 'broker a settlement'.

This came after a summer of massive political pressure from local MPs, councillors and the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. As well as meetings with UCU officials and UCU staff reps.

UCU presented an 'honorable settlement' in which the principal could save face and avert the impending strike.

Principal Michael Farley totally intransigent

However, Barry Lovejoy, head of further education, UCU, received a telephone call from Michael Farley, at the 26 August meeting at 1330 that he (Michael Farley) could not agree Part 1 of the settlement.

Part 1 of the settlement is the reinstatement of teaching staff who are on compulsory redundancy at a cost of around £200,000.

Given that Tower Hamlets College has £6million in the bank, the staffing costs would be less than 1% of the budget. Isn't this what the money is for?

'Reckless management'

Barry Lovejoy, said of the principal and senior management, "we have a totally reckless management at this college."

At 1349, UCU Head Office served indefinite strike on Tower Hamlets College.

"Michael Farley must take responsibility for drop in numbers" declared Barry Lovejoy.

Want to know more?

Here's more information about the strike

Read the background of the campaign here and here
Read the write up in the East London Advertiser

Read about us on BBC London News
Did you catch us on BBC London News today?

If you wish to show your support, please sign the petition by Rushnara Ali, local Tower Hamlets MP, petitioning against the savage cuts to English for Speakers of Other Language (ESOL) courses and redundancies.

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BBC NEWS : Tower Hamlets| College cutbacks trigger protests

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:13:37 -0700

College cutbacks trigger protests

The college serves some of the country's poorest communities

Protestors have staged a demonstration opposing plans to cut jobs at an east London college which serves some of the UK's most deprived communities.
Students and staff from Tower Hamlets College in Poplar insist the cuts, including plans to close 25 full time posts, will have a devastating impact.
The protest was held at the Museum Gardens in Bethnal Green, east London.
Union leaders have vowed to bring the college to a standstill on Friday after voting in favour of a one-day strike.

via news.bbc.co.uk

To read the rest of the article, go to BBC News at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8122355.stm

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The Guardian: How cuts to beginners' language courses hit vulnerable people - Tower Hamlets College

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:38:00 -0700

Essential English

Cuts to beginners' language courses will hit the most vulnerable people hard, say campaigners

Jessica Shepherd

The Guardian, Tuesday 14 July 2009

Sufia Alam, manager of Wapping women's centre: 'Esol courses are essential to these women's survival' Photograph: Katherine Rose

When her husband died suddenly 12 years ago, Minara was left to bring up her nine children in a deprived part of east London, speaking very little English.

English language classes at Wapping women's centre became the 35-year-old's lifeline. Her husband had always dealt with the family paperwork; now she had to, but was unable to read or understand it.

She left her youngest children in the centre's creche and joined a beginner's course in English for speakers of other languages (Esol).

Minara is now at level 3 - the standard required to sit the British citizenship te st - and has started her own catering business.

She is one of 28 mainly Bangladeshi women on Esol courses at the centre; 20 more are on its waiting list. "Esol courses are essential to these women's survival," says Sufia Alam, the centre's manager. "Without the classes, they wouldn't be able to speak to emergency services, fill out benefit forms, or go to the doctor without help.

"Some are so buoyed by knowing basic English, they go to their local libraries, think about attending the local college or working in their communities and take a bus ride out of town," she says.

No longer, it seems.

Wapping women's centre is a community outreach site of Tower Hamlets College. According to a document circulated to college staff and seen by Education Guardian, entitled Securing the Future, the centre is one of 11 that the college proposes to "withdraw provision" from in 2009-10.

The result would be a saving of £45,000 excluding pay costs, the college says.

Job losses

On top of this, staff say, the college has told them that nine people's jobs are at risk of compulsory redundancy - the equivalent of just over seven full-time Esol teaching posts.

It's not just in Tower Hamlets that Esol budgets are being slashed, but across the country. The Manchester College, one of the UK's biggest, with 80,000 students, says "as part of a continuous review process, the college has identified the need to reduce staffing in Esol and is engaged in a process with the staff and trade unions concerned". It won't talk about the numbers of student places or staff to be cut.

At Hackney Community College in north-east London, a basic Esol course - entry 1 level literacy - is no longer going to be offered on its own. It will be taught with a vocational course such as childcare. The college says this will help students progress into employment.

Hackney Community College says: "We are adjusting our provision in this way to try to meet the demands of both our communities and our funders, to help us to keep a breadth of provision and ultimately help more learners to enrol on college courses and succeed."

But the most basic needs - and rights some would say - of vulnerable communities are not being met, say students and Esol teachers.

John Biggs, London assembly member for City and East, is so worried about the situation that he is urging the London mayor, Boris Johnson, to look into the matter urgently. "The impact of these proposed cutbacks on east London would be catastrophic. As well as the jobs lost, the provision of Esol courses would fall by half - a devastating loss for an area as diverse as Tower Hamlets and a massive setback for community integration."

At Solihull College in the West Midlands, a trade union officer says Esol courses are threatened and course fees have risen. The college would not make a comment.

Just why colleges are having to make these cuts - or threaten to make them - is unclear. The colleges receive their funding from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), which in turn receives its funding from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).

A spokeswoman from BIS says that far from cutting Esol funds, the government has trebled its investment in the courses since 2000-01. It gave £300m last year and the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Communities and Local Government added to this. But this is only half the story. In the last three years, Esol funds have stayed the same, despite demand for them increasing.

Colleges say the government wants Esol classes to only go to higher-level learners who go on longer courses and that this has resulted in a reduction of funds for beginner-level courses, which the most vulnerable people, such as Minara need. The government denies this and says its priority is still people like Minara. "We want to focus provision on those most in need, the most vulnerable and the hardest to reach," a government spokeswoman says. "That is why we are asking local authorities to identify priority groups and work with the LSC and colleges to make this happen. The bulk of ESOL provision is for those with the most basic ESOL needs, ie, at entry level. We see no reason for this to change."

Colleges have been asked to look more carefully at just who the priority learners are, says Chris Taylor, programme director for Esol at the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education. "Vulnerable women don't always push their way to the front of the queue," he says.

Tower Hamlets' principal, Michael Farley, says that since 2005-06, 1,998 student places funded by the LSC have been cut at his college and an extra 1,000 are to go in the next academic year. Many of these are from Esol or basic skills - Skills For Life - courses, he says. An estimated 2,000 are left.

"The college's policy of delivering courses against which no income is received is simply not sustainable as it is putting untenable strains on the college's finances," he says.

"We have been directed to ensure our provision provides long courses as a priority. Therefore we are forced to redirect our funding into courses which are, by their very nature, more expensive than short courses. With the same amount of money we can provide fewer long courses than short courses, and this reduces student numbers.

"The governors are saddened that they have had to make this decision, but are committed to the long-term health of the college and securing its future," he says.

The cuts come almost two years after another blow to Esol. In August 2007, ministers decided that they could not allocate any extra funds to Esol and introduced fees for students who could afford to pay. Those who can will have to pay 47.5% of course fees from August - the equivalent of about £350 a year for 15 hours of classes a week.

Fee threshold

Sarah Wright, vice principal of Warwickshire College, says: "Some of our learners earn very slightly above the threshold for claiming means-tested benefits and as such are not eligible for free places. But they can't afford to fund themselves. This is also true for many of the smaller businesses. We are concerned about the impact on our local communities and ... the speed of their assimilation into the community. As a result, we have had a significant reduction to staffing."

Wright said this had been done by redeploying staff, rather than through redundancies.

Taylor says that without basic English, newcomers to the UK are isolated, left behind by their extended families and children, and unable to speak up for themselves. The cuts are strange when the government has such a high agenda for community cohesion, she says.

The government has already suggested that local authorities should have a stronger role in improving English for non-native speakers. Perhaps mosques and charities will also step up to the task.

Perdita Patterson, an Esol teacher at Tower Hamlets College, says she "doesn't know where to begin in response to this argument". "It is beyond me to understand how a miscellaneous collection of private providers, charities and religious organisations could possibly replace an established mainstream educational institution with decades of specialist expertise, relationships all over the borough, and the ability to identify barriers to learning - from dyslexia to domestic abuse. There is simply no case to be made," she says.

• This article was amended on 15 July 2009. The original said that
it was a government strategy to give priority of Esol learners at higher levels. This has been corrected to show that this is the assertion of colleges.

via guardian.co.uk

Article from the Guardian, 14 July 2009

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BOO, HISS, BOO - "There is only ONE CPD" say Tower Hamlets College

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:52:11 -0700

The picture shows teachers response to management imposed CPD on Monday 6 July 2009.

Does the phrase "you can take a horse to water but you can't make him drink" come to mind?

In past years, staff had always been able to select what they wanted to do in Staff Development week. However this year, senior management in their (un)wisdom decided to put on one staff development training session for all teaching staff.

Staff were 'instructed' to attend Differentiation training from 9.30 to 4.30pm to be delivered by two outside trainers in two separate rooms. In each room there would be one trainer teaching 150 teachers!!

Staff proposed an alternative CPD session planned by college staff for college staff was firmly rejected by senior management.

Furthermore, Tower Hamlets College senior management threatened that if staff were to go ahead with their sessions, Tower Hamlets College senior management would 'seek to take legal action against staff, the union and dismiss their local officers'.

So 'under threat of punitive action', staff decided to participate in management's CPD under protest.

Suffice to say one of the trainers walked out at midday.

Principal, Michael Farley's comment "I'm disappointed".

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Unison join strike at Tower Hamlets College 3 July 2009

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:40:00 -0700

40 Full time teaching Jobs are set to go if the board of Governors of Tower Hamlets College get their way.

The board who has up to five members who hold senior positions in the nearby Canary Wharf Banking industry (Tower Hamlets College governors) were unable to see the cruel irony that the Tax payer backed bankers bailout had shored up their own positions and they are about to make one of the most deprived boroughs in the country suffer.

ESOL courses are teaching people the vital skills they need to enter and play a part in the UK labour market and the Tower Hamlets Community can barely afford to see 40 full time jobs torn form the heart of its economy.

See this video to see how Brown's beloved bankers are making the community suffer whilst they sit on over £6 million in excess funds.

Source: youtube

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Tower Hamlets College - Interviews from 3 July 2009 Strike

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:23:00 -0700

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Strike at Tower Hamlets College - 3 July 2009

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:58:00 -0700

Successful strike on Friday 3 July 2009.

Strikers marched to Poplar from Arbour Square to join a lively protest rally outside Tower Hamlets College Poplar ...

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BBC London TV coverage - Community Demonstration against Tower Hamlets College plans to slash education and sack teachers

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:30:00 -0700

Lead story on BBC London evening news ...

Community demonstration on Saturday 27th June from Bethnal Green Gardens to Altab Ali Park.

More than a thousand staff, students and people from the local community marched to protest against Tower Hamlets College's plans to slash provision, especially in ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classes, sack teachers and increase workload for those left.

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BBC News - Tower Hamlets College cutbacks trigger protests

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:18:18 -0700

BBC London News reports on protests held on 27 June 2009. For the full article click here

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Tower Hamlets College - Stop the Cuts - Fantastic March through East London 27 June 2009

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:08:43 -0700

For more photos go to Facebook and BriWenRed

Why the march?

This is a major dispute representing the massive funding cuts to further and higher education. This is the start of the break up of adult education, and the privatisation of Higher Education and other public services.

- Stop 1000 Esol (English for Speakers of other languages) places being cut
- 40 plus jobs cut at THC (Despite £6 million in the bank)
- 550 job cuts at London Met (Despite money in the bank for a recovery plan)
- Youth workers, teachers, esol teachers, library staff affected
- Cuts to Outreach provision + Bethnal Green Centre

See the full gallery on Posterous

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March and Rally through East London against Tower Hamlets College cuts to education and jobs

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 14:28:00 -0700

Over 700 marched through streets of Tower Hamlets against Tower Hamlets College senior management education and job cuts - Saturday 27 June 2009.

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Group Student Award for Teacher Training

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 02:38:44 -0700

Group Student Award for Teacher Training 2009

“The Picture They Wouldn’t Take”

You may have noticed the front page of Mercury contains some pictures of well-deserving students at the college. Unfortunately there isn’t a picture of those accepting the Group Student Award because we refused to remove our Esol Cuts print-outs. So here it is instead.

(Left to right- Irina Malaszek (Outreach), Jane Thompson (ESOL Poplar), Begoña Morea (Adult Training Network), Lawrence Leason (ESOL Chrisp St Idea Store), Patricia Richards (ESOL, Conel), Joanna Williams (Course Tutor DTE(E)LLS), Alastair Bridges (BEC Ltd, Rotherhithe - Adult Education Centre, Brian Lyons (ESOL Chrisp St Idea Store)

The Award was presented by the Principal and accepted on behalf of the whole class by Lawrence Leason and Jane Thompson.

Joanna Williams, Course Tutor on the Diploma in Teaching English in the Lifelong Learning Sector- DTE(E)LLS, spoke briefly before the presentation about the the threat to ESOL.

She writes…..

“I am proud to have worked with the DTE(E)LLS group this year, and to have nominated them for this award. The group justly deserve it. They have worked hard on a new and demanding course, and shown throughout commitment and enthusiasm for new ideas and approaches to teaching and learning, always valuing and putting students at the centre of the learning process.

However, this work and these approaches to teaching are threatened by the limited and limiting vision of what supports teaching and learning in the Principal's recent proposals. We are very worried about this attack on the culture of student centred learning which these proposals represent, and about the negative effect this will have on teaching and learning in the college.

By promoting a narrow 'work' and 'accreditation' focussed curriculum, by threatening cuts to classes for the most marginalized students, cuts in remission for tutorial support and for c.p.d. for teachers, they pose a real threat to the quality of work we do in the college. The ideas about what represents 'quality' in the document contradict much recent research in this area and show a real lack of understanding about what truly supports teaching and learning. Tower Hamlets College ESOL has a reputation nationally among teachers and teacher educators for innovative thinking, for challenging ill-thought through government agendas and for encouraging debate. Because of the ideas in this document we are in danger of losing that reputation.”

On accepting the award from the Principal, Lawrence Leason made the following speech.

“Can I just say, we’re accepting this award on behalf of all teacher colleagues on the DTEELLS course for this the first year the course has run at the college - Alastair Bridges, Brian Lyons, Mizan Amin, Begoña Morea, Patricia Richards, Heather Harewood and Irina malaszek.

The course gives ESOL teachers a chance develop their teaching skills, encouraging us to look at research and evidence from experts, as well as reflecting ourselves, on what good teaching and learning is. Time and time again the research and the evidence reveal that teaching and learning is about more than just acquiring skills, passing an accredited exam or becoming more ‘employable’. What cannot be captured by data, by achievement targets, progression tables, retention figures and examination results is the personal growth that can take place within the classroom, can change a students life and contribute to the health of the community as a whole; and strategic decisions based on data alone risk ignoring this human element.

What cannot be captured by face-less data are real students whose lives have been changed, like my own beginner student at Chrisp Street Idea Store- one of the many places in this area that the Senior Management team plan to stop Esol classes next year to save costs- My student wrote about the importance to her of learning English- “English is like water- you need water for life”.

Will the college deny her and the hundreds of other students like her, living in this very area, that chance? “

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