IT'S OFFICIAL; LEARNING IS SERIOUSLY GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH

Education, education, education...

By Wayne Bennett, Director, Dillington House.

Towards the end of last year, a government think-tank produced a report concerning mental health and wellbeing. It was a wide-ranging study that pulled together evidence from a large number of sources.

The conclusions were astonishing in claiming that one of the most powerful activities any individual could do to stave off the misery of depression and anxiety – especially in older age - was to keep learning.

Indeed, learning throughout life is wonderfully good for us in all sorts of ways. Learning allows for an engagement with the world and the great issues that confront us all.

It obviously improves our knowledge and widens our horizons in the process. It brings us into contact with other like-minded people and it challenges our own beliefs and opinions.

Learning can also give us a deep sense of achievement and this improves our self-esteem and sense of well-being.

When interviewed on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, Sir John Beddington – the Government’s Chief Scientific Advisor – said that the most important single thing we can do to maintain a quality of life in older age is to keep learning. Wow!

If this is the case, then the news comes very late as the provision of government supported adult education programmes across the country are in a state of collapse.

Local councils, universities and colleges, driven by the need to follow the money, have abandoned much of what they use to do in favour of delivering courses in basic skills – literacy and numeracy etc. – as well as in courses leading to recognised qualifications.

Of course, nobody is staying that these are not important too. It is undoubtedly critical that we have a well-educated and qualified working population.

But why did we have to close down a great tradition of courses in village halls and local schools in the process? The provision of adult education programmes was a simple public service that had the means of transforming individual lives and families. Above all though, learning for learning’s sake is a deeply civilising concept and one that ultimately adds value to communities and society in general.

Now we hear that it is also good for our mental health as well. The decline in provision and the opportunities on offer has to be reversed and a renaissance in adult education begun.

The irony of the present state of affairs is that New Labour came to power on the mantra of ‘education, education, education’ and David Blunkett had a visionary mission of creating a culture of lifelong learning!

Of course, the loss of adult education classes is only part of a larger picture in which the notion of public service and collective responsibility is replaced by private provision and narrow economic objectives.

That said, there are still some organisations doing their best to keep things going. Notable among them are the Women’s Institute, the WEA and the U3A – a voluntary self-help learning network for older people.

There is also a scattering of residential colleges offering weekend courses in a social setting; and we mustn’t forget art centres, museums, clubs and societies who often provide a vibrant programme of talks and activities.

The Open University remains open although this involves academic study at a high level and at a price which many people may find off-putting. If you have the money then certain private providers such as Warner Leisure also offer study and activity breaks in hotels.

So what’s to be done? Well, the government have been stung by public criticism of what has happened to adult education and the recently moved former Secretary of State, John Denham, indicated that something had to be done.

The big problem is that, thanks to the disgraceful behaviour of the banks, the financial cupboard is bare and a general election will probably make no difference – adult education has never been high on the political agenda.

The reality is that we are probably on our own. Don’t despair, let’s get down to the library (if we still have one) or online and search out the opportunities that do exist and sign up now. Find out what is going on in your area and take those tentative first steps…the science says that it will be seriously good for us.

Wayne's column appears in the current edition of Mature Times, which is freely available at Dillington and many other reputable outlets. (www.maturetimes.co.uk)