IfL offers sound financial results and vision for the future

The Institute for Learning (IfL) held its sixth annual general meeting in London on Tuesday 15 July 2008. Members asked a range of questions about professional development and the relationship between being a professional and how their work was valued and rewarded.  One member offered a vote of thanks to IfL for arranging a good AGM, and another told IfL’s new chief executive, ToniFazaeli, that receiving her IfL membership certificate had been the proudest moment of her life – she was now recognised as a professional teacher in further education.

 

Members were told that at the end of the financial year, which coincided with the 31 March 2008 registration deadline for teaching staff in further education colleges, the Institute had 122,680 members. This had since grown by 25,000 members, to over 147,000. “The increase in membership numbers from 4,000 to over 147,000 reveals the unprecedented growth of the organisation over the last year,” said IfL chair, SueCrowley. “This has presented a huge challenge. Levels of staffing, accommodation and physical resources have been constantly catching up with the speed of growth, and it is a great credit to the staff that they have managed to retain such a high level of member and customer satisfaction, motivation and commitment.”

 

Presenting a summary of the audited financial statement, deputy chief executive LeeDavies highlighted the following financial details:

 

·      Turnover increased 438% to £3,017,494 (£688,748), reflecting the introduction of mandatory membership for teachers and trainers working on government-funded programmes.

 

·      Expenditure increased 314% to £1,916,706 (£610,879). The greatest movement in expenditure was in the areas of personnel and establishment costs, since this was the first full year of operation following separation from Lifelong Learning UK.

 

·      The surplus for the year increased to £1,106,316 (£81,498). As a not-for-profit organisation, the Institute aims to make a surplus of income over expenditure to retain for service improvement and development of member benefits.

 

Members voted:

 

·      to receive and adopt the (draft) audited financial statement for the year ended 31 March 2008

 

·      for the reappointment of Tenon Audit Ltd as Auditors for the next financial year

 

·      for a special resolution to add a new Article allowing website communications with members, in line with changes in the Companies Act 2006

 

·      for two special resolutions allowing typographical errors in Articles 18 and 50 to be corrected.

 

In her address to members, ToniFazaeli said, “Teaching and learning is my heartland. I know that the transformation that teachers and trainers make to learners’ lives is phenomenal. As we sit here today, some 200,000 or so teachers and trainers are working with five million or so learners, making a fantastic difference to their lives and their opportunities in life.

 

“I feel very privileged to be working for members of the Institute for Learning. IfL is your professional body – my job is to make sure that our shared vision for a well respected, trusted and influential body of teaching professionals is made a reality.

 

“The next five years will be a crucial time for IfL as we develop services for our members and help practitioners have a voice. We want our members to influence policy – not just as policy is implemented – the downstream – but as policy is being created – the upstream.”

 

Announcing a number of café discussion sessions to be set up with groups of members throughout England from October, MsFazaeli said, “We want to hear your ideas for what you would like IfL to be doing over the next five years. We want to hear about your hopes for the organisation, as well as ways that you might like to be involved in IfL. I look forward to working with you and to making the Institute for Learning a world-class professional body. This is a very bold ambition – and it needs to be – so we can serve the range of fantastic teachers, trainers, tutors and others supporting learning across the FE and skills sector.”