Many Auckland community education classes for adults have begun their last term after the Government pulled the rug on funding. Our reporters went to learn what we'll be missing.
PETAL by petal, a red sugar rose is formed. Too thick and the petal droops; too thin and the petal breaks. Under June Mason's careful, slightly trembling hands, the perfect rose is created.
June has decorated cakes since 1946 and taught the art for the last 32 years. But Government cuts to Adult and Community Education funds mean she may not be able to pass her knowledge to the next generation.
"When I started cake decorating, sugar was still rationed [after World War II restrictions].
We had to be careful with what we used,'' she says as she prepares for a new batch of students. "But I still learn. This is a skill where you never stop learning.''
The students enter Blockhouse Bay Community Centre, taking their seats around the table. Each has a block of icing and a little punnet of cornflour in front of them.
Joanne Twiggins is one. She's a chiropractor who has taken time off work: "I want to learn to be more creative and the cost means I can try something new. It's affordable.''
The average cost of Blockhouse Bay's community classes is about $50 for eight weeks, including materials. Of the other courses we visited, the 16-week yoga class costs $80, watercolour painting class $35, abstract painting $90 for eight weeks, and the boating course cost $149 for five weeks.
It's nice to meet new people as well, says Joanne. Sitting beside her is Julia Reid, a young mum of three. She loves making cakes and friends have begun to place orders.
"I want to improve my skills and maybe start a home-based business,'' she says. "But I wouldn't be able to do cake decorating if it weren't for the community classes. I couldn't afford it.
"I am also thinking of doing a creative writing class and maybe a mechanics class. But I am trying to fit it all in before the end of this year because I just don't know what's going to happen next.''
Chatter soon fills the hall that's also used by ballet classes, yoga and other seminars. Sugar petals, some successful and others not, cover the tables.
With a smile, Julia asks: "When there are no more community classes, how will we learn to make roses?''- Debrin Foxcroft.
A chance to meet people, to learn new skills
WHEN PEOPLE enter a classroom, they often go to the back to avoid being noticed or asked questions by the teacher. Not at the afternoon water colour painting class at Glen Eden Community House.
The first two rows fill up with students young and old organising their paint brushes before chatting to others.
Eleven students are here, up from eight last term. Six are back for more lessons.
This is Noel Dawson's first water colour painting class. He's been to many night classes but, now he's retired, he has time for day classes too.
"All my life I've been quite keen on drawing, and I've taken three drawing classes,'' he says. "I really wanted to learn how to do water colour so I can put washes over my drawings.''
The former associate dean of medical and health sciences at the University of Auckland
misses working and enjoys meeting new people through community classes.
"It is helping me adjust to having so much free time,'' he says. He wrote to the Government urging it to continue funding the classes. He got a letter thanking him for writing.
Karren Smith is back for a second term. As well as taking cooking and art classes, she has taught English and dressmaking.
"People seem to think that community classes are for middle-aged white people, but most classes are very multicultural and it gives everyone a chance to meet new people and learn new skills.''
Tutor Leesa Terlesk says community classes might not get people into jobs but it's a start.
"People just haven't got the money to pay for long courses if they aren't sure that's what they want to do.
"These classes are a lot cheaper and give people a real taste for different subjects,'' she
says. - Joanna Davies.
'You can't put a price on mental or physical health'
BRIGHTLY coloured mats are being cleared from the parquet floor. Women and one man stand, shaking their muscles out, sipping water or chatting to those beside them.
It's the middle of the day and this mixed group of retirees, stay-at-home mothers and
visiting family members has just finished a two-hour yoga class at Blockhouse Bay
Community Centre.
Terry Thurtell has an old leg injury that's been bothering him. He comes to yoga to stretch it.
"It's really important to keep these classes going,'' says Terry. "It feels so good to
stretch the body, not having to go to the doctor all the time and developing a natural
strength.''
He also places a premium on the social aspect. He meets people, and they have
developed a bit of a community.
"These sorts of classes bring people together,'' he says. The prospect of losing that is a
worry.
"I would rather see the members of Government take a pay cut,'' he says. "If they put classes like this out of our reach, then they may as well put more money into doctors.''
Josie Holiday teaches the class. "What really gets me is they are happy to spend millions of dollars on the Rugby World Cup but $16 million on community education is too much.''
She shakes her head. "You can't put a price on physical or mental health.''
Jeannine Wardly is one of the last to leave the small hall. She admits she wouldn't do yoga if it were not for the 16-week classes.
"To join the gym is a huge financial commitment, but these classes are affordable. I would hate to lose that.'' - Debrin Foxcroft.
Accidents will happen without these classes
BETWEEN Downtown Auckland and the North Shore coast is a great big expanse of water. At night, it can seem even more impressive. The water and wind remind us how dangerous the sea can be.
In the Maritime Education Centre next to Birkenhead Wharf, six students begin a five-week Daytripper course on boating safety, offered by Northcote College. A whiteboard holds large, boat-shaped magnets - poised to launch into a demonstration. The pictures on the wall are racing yachts.
Student Colin Gray says safety can't be under-estimated. "This is a bit of a refresher course for me,'' he says. "I am moving on to larger boats and I wanted to brush up on my maritime safety.''
Colin would probably still take the course if it wasn't subsidised, but it would depend on the price.
Tutor Felicity Walbran says the cuts are more than just a shame. The Daytripper classes
are already more expensive than most community education courses.
"These classes are offered elsewhere but at a greater cost,'' she says. "Without these classes we are going to have substantially less-educated boaties on the water, and significantly more accidents.''
Felicity says the classes probably won't be affected too much on the North Shore, but
other areas might struggle.
"The concept of community classes is having classes in the community that people from
that community can access. You don't need to go out far to get into trouble, so we need to be ensuring access to safety classes for everyone who goes on a boat.'' - Debrin Foxcroft.
'Something we can do together, as a family'
ON A MONDAY NIGHT, the first evening of the term at Mt Eden Normal Intermediate, the carpark is jam-packed.
Alexia Buddle greets me at reception. I wonder what will happen to her job if community classes are axed.
"It's the perfect job for me while I'm studying and I really hope I can keep it,'' she says.
Alexia walks me to the classroom. Abstract Painting for Beginners has attracted 14
students this term: a mix of young and old, but predominantly middle-aged women.
They're all here for similar reasons - stepping out and trying something new, getting away from mundane, everyday life, fun, companionship.
Erena Kennerley has come along with her 12-year-old sister, Verity. "It's something we can do together as a family and a way of doing something new and different,'' says the 21-year-old.
Erena wouldn't bother coming if the classes were not subsidised. "That's part of the reason I'm doing the class now - before it gets too expensive.''
Paul Baillie is a regular at Auckland Community Learning Centre on Poronui St. He's done about five classes in the last couple of years.
"I like the social aspect and I go because I like art,'' says the 54-year-old father-of-three. "I do more art when I'm coming to the classes. Without the structure it doesn't seem to happen.''
He calls the decision to cut funding "incredibly shortsighted. It's a politically easy option for them to do this, but I think a lot of people will be really put out. Paying the full, unsubsidised price would be a squeeze for a lot of people, especially during the recession.''
The tutor, Gerry Copas, agrees. After four years he has seen all sorts of people come and go.
"These classes have become an institution in their own right,'' he says. "They give people interaction and a chance to get away from everyday life. To drop them will have a detrimental effect on the whole community, which is what they're supposed to be all about.''
Gerry's job is also at stake. "Life as an artist is pretty grim financially and it will have an
impact on me and other tutors. One hopes that the Government will revisit it.'' - Valerie Schuler.
How to turn $1 into $54, almost overnight
In May's Budget the Government announced an 80 per cent cut in funds to NZ schools for Adult Community Education.
In the same Budget the Government approved $35 million extra for private schools over the next four years.
Current funding is $16 million a year - less than 0.6 per cent of the tertiary budget. This
will drop to $3 million.
PriceWaterhouseCoopers estimated in 2007 that the economic gain of community
education is $4.8 billion to $6.3 billion each year, or $54 return on every $1 spent by the Government.
Some 220,000 New Zealanders attend night classes at 212 schools each year.
Education Minister Anne Tolley wrote to Adult Community Education Aoteroa that this
Government would focus on literacy and numeracy.
"I appreciate that some of these decisions will be particularly difficult for the Adult Community Education sector. However, in the current economic climate, we must move forward with a viable plan for raising New Zealand's skill standards.''
Hope of a Government backtrack has been raised following an angry public meeting in Christchurch last week. Papanui High principal Denis Pyatt reported that Prime Minister John Key admitted that the impact of the cuts may have been underestimated. "When I said to him that I thought his Government had seriously underestimated the impact of ACE cutbacks on communities, his exact words in reply were: 'You're probably right','' said Pyatt.
Calling It A Night
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.