As unemployment levels rise, so education and training move into the policy spotlight. For the government, this is a very uncomfortable place to be right now. A number of large companies have withdrawn from the flagship Work Programme--under which jobseekers are invited to take up unpaid work placements of between two and eight weeks--amid…

Generational conflict is back. After years of relative silence, and mutual ignorance, the young and old are once more at war. With youth unemployment high on the political agenda, the fortunes of the "jobless generation" are being contrasted with those of the "golden generation" of baby boomers, but is one generation really…

Rioting usually achieves nothing in itself, but it can tell the people a lot about their society. For anyone interested in adult learning, the experience of the public debate has been salutary, with any attempt to explain the events being dismissed as "condoning" the looters. While it would be arrogant to assume that everyone now knows…

Everyone is talking about civil society. Perhaps it's the election, and the shock of seeing more voters at the polling booths than anyone had expected. Now David Cameron's idea of a "big society" is being translated into some early policy measures. Does today's debate have anything to do with adult learning? The author believes that the…

Due to the effects of global warming, writes Field, everyone now lives in times of plague, floods, and famine. While the UK government's track record on green issues is not all bad, still it is vulnerable to criticism. In this article, the author discusses what adult education has to offer to the environmental movement, despite existing…

Under current arrangements, the Scottish Parliament has powers covering domestic matters such as health, the justice system, economic development, environment and transport, and education. Defense and foreign policy are not devolved; tax-setting is only partly devolved. The author prognosticates that the Scottish National Party (SNP) will exercise…