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| Mayor Ken opens new £21m
City Lit |
But adult course fees could
rise by 15 per cent
Mayor Ken Livingstone at the
City Lit opening |
A LEADING adult education college in Covent Garden is celebrating
the unveiling of its new £21-million building.
But it could be forced to increase its course charges by as
much as 15 per cent for each of the next two years following policy
changes by the Labour government.
The City Lit, in Keeley Street, welcomed Mayor of London Ken Livingstone
yesterday (Thursday) to officially open its state-of-the-art building
which has taken four years to complete and has been in full use
by the college since May 4.
Peter Davies, the college principal who has been in his post for
almost a year exactly, is delighted by the new facilities.
He said: “Before we were based in five buildings (in and
around nearby Stukeley Street) and it was virtually inaccessible
to the disabled. The cost of remaining there and renovating the
site was so expensive that it was actually easier to start from
scratch.
“We actually have less in the way of floor space but the
rooms are far more flexible and we are virtually 100 per cent
accessible for the disabled.”
It is the first purpose built adult education college in Britain
for 40 years and appears to be a model of success.
There are dozens of class rooms, trainings rooms, drama studios,
music rooms with high ceilings and large windows providing an
immense amount of natural light, as well as information technology
suites and a large library.
Mr Davies came to the college after a 35-year career in the Royal
Navy where he rose to the rank of Rear Admiral.
During the past few years he had been particularly involved in
education, was governor of both a further education college and
a grammar school in Portsmouth where he lives and was closely
involved with a primary school in special measures.
And for his last six years he was involved in naval education.
After leaving the service he wanted a second career and further
education appealed, somewhere he could “put something back
into society”.
And he applied his naval experience, where he led several major
projects concerning defence procurement, into making sure the
building of the new college would be on budget and on time.
The construction was organised through a Private Finance Initiative
(PFI) but after the terrorist attacks of September 11 the PFI
collapsed.
Mr Davies said: “It is very difficult to get a PFI off the
ground and there is perhaps more pressure to get the project delivered
on time as otherwise the money people don’t get any return.”
After the withdrawal of the PFI the government pledged 40 per
cent of the funding required.
Mr Davies said: “It does show a level of commitment by the
government.”
And the project was duly delivered on time.
He said: “Obviously you don’t get things 100 per cent
right but we are very pleased with the results.
“A lot of work went into the design and we are now seeing
what other avenues it opens up for us”
But just on Friday the government informed the college that it
was planning to increase the funding for the education of 14 to
19-year-olds which will force many of the college’s 3,000
courses to increase their fees.
Mr Davies said: “The difficulty is that we will face a reduction
in funding and we will lose Adult Education places across the
country.
Our fees will have to rise. We already charge high fees, you can
pay £300 to £400 for a course already. For those who
are on benefits they will be okay but for those who want to do a
course for personal development, and are in employment, they will
have to pay more.” |
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