Criticism levelled at adult learning courses

13:30 3rd April 2009

Basic skills training programmes aimed at adults have been criticised by an education expert who says they are best learned during childhood.

According to the Press Association, professor Anna Vignoles, of the Institute of Education in London, said basic skills like literacy and numeracy are only effectively learned during childhood and so the government should stop funding adult education programmes.

The initiatives are designed to help people find a job in the current economic climate and could encourage the take-up of web design careers and additional IT training.

Prof Vignoles told the news agency: "It is well known that an individual's basic skills level affects how much they earn, but research shows that the three Rs are best acquired in childhood. Policies and qualifications to help adults develop them have proved largely ineffective."

She added that up to 150 hours of intensive tutoring is needed for adults, but this could prove prohibitively expensive to provide.

Research firm Akamai recently found that less than ten per cent of UK-based web users have a connection speed of 5Mbps or faster, impacting on the effectiveness of online training programmes.