The NIACE (National Institute of Adult Continuing Education) was an educational
charity in
England and
Wales, with headquarters in
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city l ...
and
Cardiff plus a subsidiary office in
London. The organization, founded in 1921 as the ''British Institute of Adult Education'', was dedicated to advocating for and promoting adult learning. It was the main advocacy body for adult learning in England and Wales and probably the largest body devoted to adult education in the world.
On 1 January 2016 NIACE merged with the
Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion to form a new organisation, the Learning and Work Institute.
Aim
The main aim of NIACE was to promote the study and general advancement of adult continuing education by improving the quality of opportunities available, by increasing the number of adults engaged in formal and informal learning, and by widening access for those communities under-represented in current provision. This was summed up by the words "more, better and different".
Methods
NIACE undertook this work through:
*advocacy to national and local government, funding bodies, industry and providers of education and training;
*collaboration with providers in all sectors of post-compulsory education and training; and through fostering progression routes for adults seeking to develop pathways as learners;
*a commitment to supporting evaluation and monitoring and to high-quality service;
*securing informed debate – through research, enquiry, publication and through arranging seminars and conferences;
*effective networking – to ensure that lessons learned in one part of the system could be drawn on elsewhere;
*ensuring that the best of international practice was available to its members and users;
*a commitment to being itself a well-managed learning organization.
From 1988,
Alan Tuckett Sir Alan John Tuckett, (born 3 April 1948) is a British adult education specialist and campaigner. He was the Chief Executive of the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) from 1988 to 2011, and President of the International C ...
OBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
was the Director of NIACE.
[NIACE Blog http://www.niace.org.uk/blog/?page_id=3]
The predecessor of Alan Tuckett was Arthur Stock. Its President from 2006 was David Sherlock
CBE (former Chief Inspector of the Adult Learning Inspectorate), and before that Christine King (Vice Chancellor of Staffordshire University), and before that Richard Smethurst (Provost,
Keble College, Oxford).
Merger to form Learning and Work Institute
With effect from 1 January 2016 NIACE merged with the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion to form a new organisation, the Learning and Work Institute.
References
External links
Official site{{Education in Cardiff
Adult education in the United Kingdom
Education in Cardiff
Education in England
Education in Leicester
Education in Wales
Further education colleges in England
Further education colleges in Wales
Organizations established in 1921
Organisations based in Leicestershire
Organisations based in Cardiff