---

Further Education and Training Bill [Lords]

I agree entirely with the hon. Gentleman’s comments. Indeed, as someone who tore up all her school books and put them in the bin on the last day of school, I was absolutely delighted to find that FE was exactly the place for me, and I saw that as a tutor with the hundreds of students who moved through the FE institution that I worked for. I studied shorthand and was the highest-achieving shorthand writer in more than a decade at my local FE institution. That in itself opened up an alternative career choice. If I had taken that route, I might well have been up in the Press Gallery taking the notes on this debate, rather than down here delivering one of the speeches. I chose not to take that route and, in many ways, I am probably grateful for that—although we very much value the work that is done in the Gallery. I want to draw attention to the commitment of the many students that I taught in FE. That relates to the hon. Gentleman’s point. In my adult learning role, I have witnessed many students who have been willing to take time off work and to come in of an afternoon to receive one-to-one tuition in order to achieve their goals—in order to achieve the GCSE English or the key skills that they needed to move on to an alternative career or to move up their chosen career structure. I know that students took time off work to attend special study periods and even to do their exams, because not all employers recognise the importance of their employees voluntarily taking up part-time evening class opportunities in education and are not even willing to give them time off for exams. That is an important point. When I took my A-level exams, I had to take annual leave. As a Government, we should think about that issue. Many adults who take night classes will leave work at 5 o’clock or half-past 5 and will come straight into college without a break. They do not even have a chance for an evening meal. They are in the classroom 10 minutes before the class is ready to start because they are so keen to soak up and absorb what is on offer. One of the most inspirational periods of my life and one of the most rewarding aspects of my work as an FE tutor involved delivering adult education. I took a bunch of students down to Stratford to see ““The Merchant of Venice””. Those adults had never been to the theatre before. They had never been to the theatre in Sheffield, never mind Stratford-upon-Avon. Can Members imagine how rewarding it is to see adults from working-class communities such as Wath on Dearne—the sons and daughters of coal miners—going down to Stratford and not only enjoying ““The Merchant of Venice””, but appreciating it? The whole experience had the potential to transform their lives by providing them with other avenues and forms of fulfilment. That applies not just to future employment opportunities, but to how they enjoy their lives and what they make of that rich experience.