Fewer adults are taking evening classes because of a shift in Government funding, figures being published tomorrow indicate.

They show a 3 per cent drop in adult learners in the last year. Among the worst affected are older people and those supposed to be benefiting most from Government skills initiatives.

Lip-reading, art, ceramics, psychology, economics, jewellery-making, philosophy, modern languages and IT have been particularly badly hit, with dramatic fee increases or course closures.

Funding has been diverted away from such classes, to vocational training and basic literacy courses, through Government schemes such as Skills for Life and Train to Gain.

This has led to a loss of 1.4 million further education places between 2005 and last year.

The report, Counting The Cost, by the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education(NIACE), found 38 per cent of people have participated in learning in the last three years. This figure was 41 per cent last year and 42 per cent in 2006.

The authors say: “The report’s major finding, that participation has fallen among key target groups for the government’s learning and skills strategy, calls into question the balance of current policy instruments.

“It suggests that changes in public priorities may have an amplified impact in dampening learners’ own aspirations.”

They claim that, in attempting to tackle the skills shortage, the Government was denying some people the chance to learn, adding: “Overall, the findings pose challenges for Government.

“They show that, despite the real gains of the Skills for Life and Train to Gain strategies, the very groups identified as key to the achievement of the skills strategy are bearing the heaviest burden of the re-balancing of funding.

“The findings suggest that the price of investment in key groups of adults in workplace learning is being paid for by reduced participation by other adults from exactly the same groups.

“The survey suggests the time has come for Government to count the cost - as well as the benefits - of its current policies for adult learning.”

The researchers, who questioned nearly 5,000 adults, found that learning among skilled manual workers had fallen from 40 per cent to 33 per cent in a single year - reversing their participation gains of the last 10 years.

The change in funding particularly disadvantages those older than 25. This was reflected in the figures which show the number of 25 to 34-year-olds participating in learning has fallen from 50 per cent to 43 per cent in a year.

Even programmes such as Skills for Life have not increased the number of unemployed people in learning. The figure has fallen from 30 per cent in 2006 to 26 per cent this year. White people were less likely than black or ethnic minority respondents to the survey to have participated in learning.

David Lammy, Minister for Skills said: “This Government is committed to ensuring those in the greatest need can access the skills training they need to help them to get a job or to get on at work.

“In the last seven years we have invested over £3 billion helping more than 1.75 million adults improve their literacy and numeracy skills, boosting their quality of life and giving them a stepping stone to employment.

“We have also trebled funding for English language courses and are raising the budget for work based learning.

“To improve value for money we have stopped funding many short courses and are focusing this money towards longer, high quality courses that directly improve people's employability.”

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