Right2Learn (R2L), are a campaign group that seeks to show how important properly funded lifelong learning is to the life chances of millions. The group was formed after the publication of the findings from the 2019 Lifelong Learning Commission called for everyone of any age and background to have access to properly funded education.
R2L are hosting their inaugural conference ‘Right2Learn is Right for Now’ on Thursday May 20. The conference will be looking at key issues around lifelong learning, Higher education and Further Education. Chairman of the Leaders Council, Lord Blunkett, has been confirmed as giving the opening address on the topic of ‘The Learning Age revisited : do we need a lifelong learning strategy for our post-Covid world’.
R2L’s Steering Group founders; Graeme Atherton , VIcky Duckworth , Gordon Marsden and Matt Waddup said ''We are delighted Lord Blunkett , a seminal figure and champion for lifelong learning for over two decades, ever since his groundbreaking Green Paper ‘The Learning Age’ - at the turn of the Millennium ‘, is giving R2L’s opening lecture entitled ‘ The Learning Age revisited : do we need a lifelong learning strategy for our post-Covid world’ - at our inaugural Conference.
''Our conference title - Right2Learn is Right for Now - embodies and underline our priorities since we launched our campaign in December. It comes at a crucial time as we begin to emerge from the Covid pandemic but with a sobering legacy of thousands of lost jobs , stalled careers and lifechances across all ages and sectors , with the accompanying disruption right across the worlds of education , skills and employment in the UK
'' This is absolutely the right time , with Government legislation on skills and an autumn spending review in the offing , for bringing key speakers and policy makers from across the sectors , along with those who will attend the event, together , to discuss and emphasise how lifelong learning must play a central role in our post Covid recovery and in addressing the challenges of the decade ahead.’’
The conference will be hosting a number of panels to look at issues surrounding FE & HE over the next 12 months as the UK and rest of the world looks to put the issues surrounding Covid-19 behind. Upskilling and employment is a key position for the government and it will take businesses, thought leaders, charities, local governments and unions working in tandem to make sure that education is available for all those who need it.
Panellists confirmed so far include Kirstie Donnelly (CEO , City & Guilds), John Holford (Professor of Adult Education , University of Nottingham), Ann Limb (Founder of the Helena Kennedy Foundation ), Simon Parkinson (General Secretary WEA), Ruth Silver (President of the Further Education Trust for Leadership) and Dave Ward (General Secretary CWU) .
