The NIACE (National Institute of Adult Continuing Education) was an educational
charity
Charity may refer to:
Giving
* Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons
* Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing
* C ...
in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
and
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
, 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
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...
plus a subsidiary office in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. 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 OBE 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
Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to ...
, 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