From education to employment

Margaret Greenwood MP new Chair of the APPG for Adult Education

Margaret Greenwood MP new Chair of the APPG for Adult Education

APPG FOR ADULT EDUCATION RE-ESTABLISHED @WEAadulted MEETING 

The All Party Parliamentary Group for Adult Education (APPG) has now been re-established as an APPG in Parliament following the appointment of a new Chair at a meeting hosted by the official secretariat, the WEA (Workers Education Association).

The APPG was constituted to raise the profile of adult education, highlight the benefit that it makes to our communities and to celebrate the achievements of adult learners.

Margaret Greenwood MP, Member of Parliament for Wirral West, will be the new Chair of the APPG.  She has previously worked as an English teacher in secondary schools, a lecturer in further education and an adult education tutor. She was first elected to Parliament in 2015 and has held the roles of Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Shadow Employment Minister and Shadow Schools Minister.

Commenting on the APPG, Margaret said: ā€œIt is a privilege to have been elected as the Chair of the APPG for Adult Education. The group aims to celebrate the contribution of adult education to the social, economic and cultural wellbeing of the UK, raise its profile and explore policy development. At this time when economic and social renewal is so important, adult education has a key role to play.ā€

“We have already had a successful first meeting with interesting speakers, including the Minister for Apprenticeships and Skills, and I am looking forward to many more. I would like to thank Chi Onwurah MP for doing a fantastic job chairing the group over the past five years. I would also like to thank the WEA for acting as the secretariat of the group and for their invaluable support.ā€

The full list of elected Officers for the Adult Education APPG are: Margaret Greenwood MP, Baroness Garden of Frognal, Baroness Smith of Newnham, Lord Taylor of Warwick, Sir Peter Bottomley, Paul Howell MP.

Leading education provider and charity, the WEA, will continue to support the APPG, as it has done since 2016, and act as its official secretariat. The WEA will support APPG meetings in the next few months on digital poverty and left-behind communities designed to show how adult learning can support those who are most isolated.

In the short-term, the APPG will be focused on adding to the discussion and debate on the Skills White Paper, exploring the role of adult education in the social and economic recovery post the pandemic and investigating the links between adult education policy and other policy areas such as health and employment.


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