Indro Sen's appeal against dismissal to be heard today

Sen teaching students in a park in his spare time back in 2007

Indro Sen, College of North West London, and UCU represenattive will be presenting his Appeal against dismissal from his post at the College of North west London today.  Sen has been supported by many trade unionists, students and ex-students and Brent Green Party LINK

A petition in support of Sen will be presented  LINK along with comments from some of his supporters:

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Meanwhile comcern over precarious employment such as zero contracts and fake apprenticeships are likely to become General Election issues.   The College of North West London was the victim of an apprenticeship fraud LINK and the UCU called for an public inquiry LINK.

On Wednesday the Metro reported on the Superdrug apprenticeship scheme where young workers alleged their was not real apprenticeship, just a company ploy to emply them on low wages. LINK

CNWL lecturers threaten action to achieve an independent investigation into college fraud

University and College Union (UCU) members at the College of North West London are calling on the college's Governing Body to put into abeyance public consultation on the possible merger with Westminster College, pending an independent inquiry into a fraud carried out at the college by a subcontractor and the publication of its findings. LINK

The union has given notice that if guarantees are not forthcoming by Thursday March 2nd they will seek Regional Office support for the declaration of a trade dispute with the college.  The branch express the hope that if a trade dispute is declared that it could be resolved through negotiations without having to resort to lawful indistrial action.

Backing the unanimous decision of his branch members for an independent inquiry, Indro Sen, suspended Branch Secretary, said.

When students are 10 minutes late, managers instruct the class teachers to monitor their attendance. When teachers do not dot the "t) and "i" in their marked work, they are monitored by their managers and some end up under capability procedures, but when a fraud as large as £356K can take place under the very nose of SFA auditors, borough police chief, Governors and senior management teams, who monitors their performance?

Only an independent public enquiry can get to the bottom of this. Can any students' life chances be said to be in safe hands unless each and every sub-contractor is thoroughly checked out on the Government declared Sub contractor list and those checks are made public for students to see what they are getting into. Until such time, Mr. Boles should consider putting the levy scheme into abeyance.

Sen, a popular maths teacher awaits a decision of the dismissal panel into his fate. Two of his students had this to say about him and are  attending the Public meeting on Friday 24 February 2017 at Willesden Library at 6pm. Speakers include Hank Roberts the Copland High School whistleblower:

Hello Sen,

I am sorry to hear that you have suspended for helping others. You are great teacher and we are with you on this difficult moment. I will be coming to the meeting on Friday and also my colleagues are coming as well. I will see there .
With kind regards
FH

Hi Sen,

You probably dont remember me, your classes were always so rammed with students! But I certainly remember you and your teaching style, you helped me make sense of so many concepts that surpassed my understanding in school. I was in your weekly evening adult maths classes almost 4 years ago, you gave me a chance to retake my maths GCSE when most other collages turned me away. I passed because of your teaching. And due to that; I'm now a specials needs teacher in Harrow. I love what I do, and I'm eternally grateful to those that helped me get here - you being one of them.

I'll be there to support you on Friday, I stand by what your doing and respect the fact that you refuse to back down. It must feel like it'd be so easy to give up the fight - but don't. The world needs teachers like you.

My thoughts are with you

NN

I can reveal that the sub contractor concerned. Keyrail,  also had contracts with Focus Training and Development of over £100K  but my enquiries came to dead end when it turned out they had gone into voluntary liquidation on November 29th 2016.  It appears that there is no way to find out if a similar fraud was perpetrated on them. This puts the spotlight on the SFA, who holds all records, and could investigate any potential fraud.

Defend Sen Campaign - Public Meeting Friday 24th February

We would like to invite you all to public meeting organised by DEFENSENCAMPAIGN and against trade union victimisation of Sen, a life long committed maths teacher and a trade union activist. This is not the first time this has happened. The public meeting follows the second strike action taken by his branch in protest at his continued suspension. The platform also includes Grunwick40 and hopes to connect the past with the present. Sen led a number of campaigns and strikes in the College situated near what used to be the site of Grunwick.

Sen was suspended for representing two ex- colleague support staff members sacked by the College at an employment tribunal, who could not afford to hire costly barristers. The allegation is that he took unauthorised leave. His union believes that this was a pretext to get rid of him. One of the sacked member is of Afro Caribbean origin and the other member he was representing suffers from five set of disabilities. The College had never refused him unpaid leave before but did so this time.

Sen led a very suscessful campaign resulting in stopping a merger taking place between City of Westminster College and his College in 2013, the only College to have fought of a merger trough joint union action. Following his suspension on the 10 October 2016, the two College again took a decision to merge.  He remains suspended and decision with regards to his continued employment will come out on the 24 February or soon thereafter. Your intervention through appearance at the Public meeting or public support may have a significant impact on the decision.

Even whilst suspended, he has satisfactorily concluded a number of cases involving his members to their satisfaction.

Cheers
DEFENDSENCAMPAIGN

Apprenticeship schemes under scrutiny as CNWL alleged fraud raises more questions

The Institute of Fiscal Studies Report on apprenticeships LINK raised a number of key issues: I draw particular attention to the highlighted issue of concern to us in Brent over the College of North West London alleged fraud by a subcontractor which led to 78 students missing out due to a non-existent course LINK:

• Although the apprenticeship levy increases taxes on large employers, the new subsidies for employers to train apprentices mean that employers will have to pay nothing, or at most 10%, of off-the-job training costs for apprentices, up to certain price caps set by the government. This will increase the incentive to employers to hire apprentices, particularly those aged 19 and over for whom employers paid at least 50% of training costs prior to 2017.

• This zero or near zero cost of training poses considerable risks to the efficient use of public money. Employers will have little incentive to choose training providers who can provide training at a lower price. Employers will also have a big incentive to re-label existing training schemes as apprenticeships.

• The target of an average of 600,000 new apprentices a year in this parliament is a 20% increase on the level in 2014–15. This large expansion risks increasing quantity at the expense of quality. Although the government is trying to increase the quality of apprenticeships, the Institute for Apprenticeships may come under pressure to approve new apprenticeships quickly. Ofsted will take on an expanded (and welcome) role with respect to inspecting training providers and employers. However, it has already expressed serious concerns about the quality of apprenticeship schemes, particularly those created more recently.

• The apprenticeship levy will put downward pressure on wages. The Office for Budget Responsibility assesses that it will reduce wages by about 0.3% by 2020–21. While only 2% of employers will pay the levy, at least 60% of employees work for employers who will pay the levy.

• The government has set every public sector employer with at least 250 employees in England a target that 2.3% of their workforce must start an apprenticeship each year. This takes no account of big differences between organisations. Unless existing employees start apprenticeships, the targets imply around one-in-five new public sector hires must be an apprentice. Such a blanket policy cannot be an efficient way to improve skills in the public sector. It risks costly reorganisation of training and inefficient ways of working. These targets should be removed.

• The government has also failed to make a convincing case for such a large and rapid expansion in apprenticeships. In seeking to justify these changes, it quotes statistics that show a collapse in employees’ training. However, better measures of training show a much more modest decline. The government also makes wildly optimistic claims about the extra economic activity or earnings such investment in apprenticeships could generate (with quoted benefit-to-cost ratios of over 20:1). While there is a clear need for a better-trained workforce, this cavalier use of statistics risks undermining what might be a perfectly sensible case for a gradual expansion of apprenticeships in areas where quality can be assured.

I can reveal that the company involved in the alleged apprenticeship scheme fraud at the College of North West London was  Keyrail Training Ltd/Keyrail Training Solutions Ltd, an Approved Apprenticeship Training Agency listed at the Skills Funding Agency.

Interestingly this notice was posted on the Companies House site revealing that it was dissolved in May 2016.

However the company remained on the Skills Funding Agency (SFA)  Declared Subcontractors List in September 2016 with an entry of £256,000 for the College of North West London. It was removed from the list in January 2017. The entry for May 2015 had been under the name of Keyrail Training Ltd and was for £100,000 for the College of North West London.

The alleged fraud was  uncovered in the summer of 2016 and the removal from the list may have followed the result of that investigation being reported to the SFA.

The extent of the alleged fraud clearly  supports the IFS concerns but also raises the whole issue of governance of the FE sector, monitoring and audit arrangements, the role of the SFA and risks associated with the privatisation of the sector and the lack of democratic accountability. There is also concern that Indro Sen, the UCU representative at CNWL who assisuously pressed for a full investigation into the issue remains suspended by CNWL management.

It reminds me of the whistleblowing by Hank Roberts, ATL representative at the then Copland High School when he uncovered a fraud at the school.

It is unclear what action has been taken by the police but it is perhaps noteworthy that Mark Gallagher, Brent Borough Commander, is on the governing body (Corporation) of the College of North West London.

Call for public inquiry as 78 CNWL students lose out to fraud

The UCU branch at the College of North West London (CNWL) is calling for all merger negotiations with the College of Westminster (CoW) to be called off pending a Public Inquiry by the College Corporation into a fraud by college subcontractors.

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The college accounts give a sum of £139,000 lost in the fraud but staff calculate that the total could be at least £256,000 and at most £356,000 over two years.

A branch member said:

The 78 students who fell victim to this fraud should be offered compensation as well as provision being put in place that is twice as good as before, so that they can fulfil their once held aspiration to further their life chances. Any public enquiry should place them at its heart, some of them have probably been forced to seek employment instead. The majority of them are from the diverse community we serve.

The union has posed some key questions over whether steps have been taken to recover the lost monies under its fraud policy and how the college audit committee's monitoring as well as that of the Skills Funding Agency and Ofsted failed to uncover the  fraud.

Indro Sen, the CNWL Branch Secretary, is currently suspended from teaching, but is continuing to represent members.

I may be sacked but not silenced. I will keep defending our members in which ever forum they choose to fight and continue to be true to our students and believe the best judge of me remains the trade union movement and my students.

A public meeting will take place on Wednesday 24 February from 6pm to 8pm at Willesden Library,.  The meeting will  focus on trade union victimisation, the merger of the CoW  and CNWL as well as the UCU branch's ongoing fraud investigation.

CNWL UCU members took half day strike action on the 19 January between 8am to 2pm following a 95% yes vote on an ERS ballot for industrial action on a turnout of about 60% ballot return, the dispute dispute being suspension and dismissal threat against the Branch Secretary.

Members also took 1/2 day's strike action on the same day between 2pm to 9pm following a 90% yes vote on a concurrent but separate ERS ballot for industrial action on a turnout of about 54% ballot return, the dispute being compulsory redundancy a member whose internal appeal against compulsory redundancy was heard on the 17 January 2017 and who was represented  by Indro Sen her at her hearing.

Both ballots remain live.

Greens call for immediate and full reinstatement of suspended lecturer Indro Sen

Indro Sen

Peter Murry, Trade Union Liaison officer for the London Federation of Green Parties and for Brent Green Party has issued the following statement in support of Indro Sen, suspended by the management of the College of North West London:

As Trade Union Liaison Officer for the London Federation of Green Parties and for Brent Green Party, I was shocked to learn of the suspension of Indro Sen as a lecturer at the College of North West London. It is suggested that this is because of his strong opposition to a proposed merger with the City of Westminster College, and his support at an employment tribunal, of a sacked colleague’s claim of unfair dismissal and victimisation.

Both of these are actions are entirely proper for a University and College Union Branch Secretary to carry out. If Indro Sen’s suspension is a result of his performing the legitimate duties of a UCU Officer, then he himself seems to be threatened with unfair treatment and victimisation.

As a former Lecturer in the College and a retired member of UCU , I am saddened that the College, which provides a valued service to the communities of North West London., and Brent in particular, might bring itself into disrepute because of its treatment of Indro Sen. I am sure that members and supporters of the Green Party, UCU members , and the local communities will support my call for the immediate and full reinstatement of Indro Sen as a lecturer at the College and no further interference with his activities as UCU Branch Secretary.

Peter Murry says end 'politics as usual' in Brent - Vote Green in Kilburn on May 5th

Peter Murry, Green Party activist,  trade unionist and climate campaignerwill be the Green candidate in the Kilburn By-election. Polling is on May 5th in Kilburn ward in addition to the Mayoral and GLA election. He is calling for ending politcis as usual, a cleaner Kilburn and an end to Council cuts

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CNWL lecturers to strike over casualisation proposals.

Lecturers at the College of North West London will be striking on February 23rd and 25th over the college management's replacement of permanent contracts by hourly paid contracts.

The college UCU branch said:

Following the strike on the 8 December 2014 and subsequent negotiations we have not been able to persuade our employer college (College of North West London, Dudden Hill Lane) to either abandon its policy of achieving greater casualisation (replacing permanent contract with zero hours contract) through compulsory redundancies and nor persuade the College to reinstate one of our members Michael Starrs, plumbing lecturer, who became a victim of this policy. 

Therefore our members are having to take further strike action on the 23rd February and 25th  February following the half term break. A reputable law firm, employed by our union is handling his case at the Tribunal as it considers he has a reasonable prospect of Success.  

The vast majority of Michael's plumbing students have signed a petition supporting his reinstatement. He was also voted as the most popular teacher by students in 2012/2013. Members who voted unanimously to take two days a strike action believed that more strike action maybe needed to resolve this dispute.  

We are planning a public meeting very soon over this issue nearer the election as we did for our " Save Kilburn College Campaign" on the eve of the 2010 general election, where a number of MPs' and prospective candidates came for a debate.

The Green Party Trade Union Group  has issued a statement of support:

The Green Party Trade Union group supports CNWL strikers, casualisation and victimisation of education workers is not just an attack on workers and their conditions of employment, but it's also an attack on education. We need Further Education to train and educate those who can help to create the low-carbon economy that is so urgently needed and need FE managements that value their staff and treat them properly.

The college management blame the proposal to move 30% of staff on to hourly paid contracts on sharply reduced funding for the current academic year.

Student protest over technician and teacher cuts at College of North West London

As students were registering for courses on Saturday at the College of North West London in Dudden Hill, Willesden there was a demonstration outside by mature student Zo Flamma-Hill of Women in Construction.  She was opposing cuts in technicians, teachers and librarians at the college and the failure of the college to inform students about the cuts. She was also concerned that the Students; Union had taken no action and that the redundancies had taken place in an atmospere of bullying.

She called for investment in education and an end to discrimination in terms of age and gender. Zo pointed out that women represent only 11% of the construction workforce. Most of these jobs are office based and only 2% work in the manual sector. CNWL has been attractiong women into manual trades, graduate construction professions and engineering.

She claimed that courses were being reduced to less technical ones geared to the provision of cheap labour with some apprentices paid only £2 an hour

Brent event to help young people in Rwanda

Event at College of North West London, Dudden Hill

Climate Change: Education, Employment and Engagement

This 2008 film warned of the perils ahead. Have we done enough in the last 5 years?
 
The Mayor of Brent and Council Leader Muhammed Butt will present prizes to the winners of the Brent Climate Change Competition at 1.30pm on Wednesday March 20th at the Climate Change Conference being held at College of North West London, Dudden Hill.

This full day conference for 200 older secondary school students and further education students will include film, panel discussions and workshops all aimed at raising awareness of climate change, publicising university courses and training opportunities in the green technology sector, and publicising opportunities to engage in campaigning activities on the issue.

The conference is jointly organised by Brent Council, Brent Campaign Against Climate Change and the College of North West London.

Speaker	Title
Caren Trafford Environmental writer, Presenter, Educator	"One world… one problem"
Carly Walker-Dawson   Deputy Chair of Woodcraft Folk British Youth Council Vice-Chair (Participation & Development) IFM-SEI Rainbow Network Co-ordinator	If Climate Change takes place at the same speed as it does now, what will the UK look like in the year 2113?
Isobel Edwards   YUSU Environment and Ethics Officer and People & Planet society Treasurer	Easy changes to make to the life of a student which can have a big impact on their carbon footprint
Kelly EatonWaste Development Officer - Waste Policy Team - Recycling & WasteBrent Council	Recycling and One Planet Thinking: Reducing your impact on climate change
Thivya Jeyashanker & Edison Lasku Brent youth parliament Chair and Vice Chair	“Encouraging engagement and participation of young people”

Schools urged to book for Brent Climate Change Conference

Free Invitation to “Brent Students Conference on Climate Change”  20 March 2013

Brent Council, in conjunction with the College of North West London, and Brent Campaign against Climate Change are organising a conference open to all students in Years 11–13 and Further Education. The conference will be held at the Dudden Hill Campus of the College of North West London, Dudden Hill Lane, NW10 2XD.

I hope you have already received the Climate Change invitation letter, sent by post on 13 December.

The aim of the conference is to increase awareness of climate change and discuss ways to lessen and  adapt to its effects. To encourage the engagement and participation of the young people, the conference will hold a number of environmental activities.

The event will also provide information and advice on relevant courses in Further and in Higher Education and careers in related industries. 

The conference will run from 10.00 am – 3.45 pm and be divided into three sessions:

Morning Session: The Issues of Climate Change

Short introductory talks and Q/A with a panel of speakers.

Lunch Session: Courses and Careers

A tour of the college’s Industry Week displays and an opportunity to talk to employers and admissions tutors. 

Afternoon Session: Tackling Climate Change

 

Supervised workshops exploring how students can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change in their schools & colleges, or through participation in community and campaign groups.

                                                        

Free lunch and refreshments will be provided.

I would be grateful if you could bring the details of this letter to the attention of your staff/students and encourage them to attend the conference. Teachers wishing to bring a group should express an interest by e-mailing environment@brent.gov.uk by Friday 8 February 2013, with an indication of likely numbers.

We would be happy to answer any further queries you may have, please call 020 8937 5564. Alternatively a team member accompanied by a Councillor can visit your school to discuss the conference. We will be contacting you in due course to see if you would like to arrange for a visit, either to meet with staff or talk to groups of students.

Yours sincerely,

Davide Pascarella

Environmental Projects & Policy Officer

Brent Council gets school students involved in climate change battle

New York today

 As Hurricane Sandy lashes the Eastern Coast of the USA and Canada at one level and Year 5 at Wembley Primary take to Twitter to research their half-term homework on severe weather events at another it is appropriate that Brent Council today announces a Climate Change Competition for Brent schools.

I declare an interest here as Chair of Brent Campaign Against Climate Change and because I have had a minor role in organising the Schools Conference on Climate Change that will take place in March 2013.

Brent Council is launching a competition in partnership with the College of North West London and Brent Campaign Against Climate Change for young people to present ideas showing how to help their community improve its understanding of the effects of climate change and how it might be addressed.

Brent Student Climate Change competition is open to anyone aged from 11 to 21 years who lives, works or studies in the borough. It invites young people to submit a piece of work that either raises public awareness of climate change or offers a practical means to lessening or adapting our lives to deal with its effect.

Young people can use any of the following media to present their ideas:

• new media forms including apps for tablets and phones, websites
• music, art, poetry, video, drama or performance
• 3-D models
• poster or technical drawing
• written proposal of 1, 000 words such as a business plan for a small firm.

The winning entry for the competition will receive a £100 voucher and a certificate signed by the Mayor of Brent Councillor Michael Adeyeye, and the five runners-up will receive a letter of commendation also signed by the Mayor. The certificate and letters of commendation will include the name of the entrant's school, college or youth club, who will receive copies for display. The six winning pieces will be displayed in the new Brent Civic Centre and during a schools' conference on climate change in the borough, which is being planned for 20 March 2013.

Councillor James Powney, Lead Member for Environment and Neighbourhood Services, said:

"The competition will help to increase awareness of climate change in Brent. It is excellent that young people have been invited to put forward their suggestions because it is that generation who could be most affected by climate change in the future.

"It also offers schools and youth clubs the opportunity of receiving valuable publicity for their organisations while motivating students whose projects and ideas can form part of their normal coursework. I'm looking forward to seeing the innovative ways the boroughs young people tackle such a current and relevant issue such as raising awareness of adapting and tackling climate change."

Ken Montague, secretary of Brent Campaign against Climate Change, who is coordinating the competition, is available to visit your school or club venue with a Brent councillor to explain the competition. He can be contacted if a school or youth club emails environment@brent.gov.uk .

The deadline for submissions is 13 March 2013, but you must register by 8 February 2013.
Entries will be judged by a panel of representatives from Brent Council, Brent Campaign Against Climate Change, and The College of North West London. For more information about submitting your entry email environment@brent.gov.uk .

ESOL Cuts Will Be Devastating for People on Low Wages, Women and Asylum Seekers

David Cameron demanded in his 'multiculturalism' speech that  immigrants should learn English.  At the same time his government is cutting entitlement to English classes at colleges of further education such as the College of North West London. 37% of the students at CNWL attend ESOL courses.  The Action for ESOL Campaign make the case against proposed changes in funding:

People who move to the UK need English language skills to access training, gain employment and participate in society. Enabling new arrivals and longer-term residents to fulfil their potential is essential. Migrants bring with them valuable skills, qualifications and experience which can lie untapped unless they have the chance to learn English.

The best way to achieve this is through publicly funded English language provision known as ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages).

Adequate and sustained funding of ESOL is not a luxury. It is an essential public service. This was recognized by Skills for Life, the national strategy for the improvement of adult literacy and numeracy. Thousands of migrants achieved levels of English which enabled them to join the jobs market, access training and participate more fully in their local communities. The strategy created a national curriculum for ESOL, training and qualifications for ESOL teachers and a research centre, the National Research and Development Centre. But now, the funding made available through the strategy is under threat and the good work begun by Skills for Life could be lost.

The government proposals indicate that:

- Full funding will be only be available for unemployed people on job-seeker’s allowance (JSA) or on employment support allowance (ESA), described as ‘active benefits’.

People on other benefits, described as ‘non-active benefits’, such as income support, or on low wages, and their dependants will have to pay the co-funded rate of 50% or the full cost of the course.

- Asylum seekers and people on Section 4 support will not be eligible for full public funding - they will be expected to pay 50%.

- There will be no public funding for ESOL in the workplace. Learners or employers will be expected to pay full cost.

- Since 2007, ESOL learners on benefits or low incomes have been able to get help towards fees from the discretionary Learner Support Fund for ESOL. We fear this will be unavailable in 2011-12.

- The Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) grant which provided support for 16 - 18 year old ESOL learners will be withdrawn.

- The weighting for ESOL and Literacy, which was reduced from 1.4 to 1.2 in 2009, is to be further reduced to 1.0.

We predict devastating effects on ESOL provision, teachers' jobs and ESOL students. We believe that people on low wages, women and asylum seekers are likely to be worst hit.

Sign the Action for ESOL petition HERE

Young People in the Firing Line

The Brent Fightback meeting was well attended yesterday evening. Roxanne Mashari outlined the various ways young people are being hit by cuts in Building Schools for the Future, Future Jobs Fund, Education Maintenance Allowances and the trebling of university fees. The cap on housing benefit could also mean young people's families having to move out of the borough or live in smaller, more crowded accommodation. She point out that just under 25% of the Brent population were under 25 and it was important that their voices be heard. She wanted to make the Youth Parliament of which she is co-chair participative rather than merely consultative.

Cllr Mary Arnold (lead member for children and families) said that the council had to make cuts but would fight for vulnerable children. S he said that only 20% of young people were involved in the youth service and she wanted a better coordinated universal service. Only 4% of Brent youth were NEETS (Not in employment, education or training), which was lower than other London boroughs, but the number would increase with the loss of the EMA and Connexions. She spoke against academies and free schools, which would mean a loss of democratic control and said the authority was arranging a briefing for headteachers and governors on the issue. She said that the housing benefit cap was tantamount to gerrymandering. 

In response to calls for the councillors to work with local trades unions she said that Ann John would be meeting with the NUT.

There was some discussion about whether it was right to focus on youth as receiving a disproportionate number of cuts or whether the real disproportion that should be emphasised was that between the wealthy and the rest of society. Roxanne said that she had been asked to speak about the impact on young people and that was what she had done but she agreed that bankers and the wealthy were escaping from bearing their fair share of the cuts.

In my contribution I suggested that councillors should also meet  with school governors about the impact of cuts in schools. When budgets were reduced governors would be in the front line under pressure to make cuts to balance budgets. He said that cuts already implemented in the council were making some of the services to schools less efficient because of reduced staffing. This then tempts schools to hire private contractors instead and further reduces the economic viability of local government services. 

Concern was expressed about the impact of cuts on children and adults with learning disabilities and the need to include them in the fightback by communicating effectively. The latest news that the College of North West London was to sell off its Kilburn Campus was discussed and the issue of occupation of the site was raised. 

Save OUR College - Kilburn unites against closure

The community and the generations unite to save Kilburn Centre

A bustling Kilburn High Road, thick with Saturday traffic and shoppers, witnessed early resistance to the cuts when lecturers, students and their children, trades unionists, Brent Trades Council and local supporters marched to demonstrate against the closure of Kilburn Centre. The College of North West London is closing the £5.5m centre only three years after it opened in order to save money.  At the same time it has an unused building in Wembley Park worth £4m that it is refusing to sell off because it is waiting for the property market to recover.

Sarah Cox of Brent Trades Council, addressing the open air meeting in Kilburn Square rightly said that the CNWL should be educators, not property speculators. She emphasised the importance of the Centre as a local resource and the necessity for a building within easy walking distance for parents with young children.She remarked that the political parties had been vocal at the public meeting in support of the Centre during the General Election campaign but only the Green Party were present today.

Alf Filer of the UCU and Harrow College delivered a message of support and spoke about how the impact of cuts and recession had hit his own family. Hank Roberts of the NUT spoke about education cuts in general and called for direct action citing the occupation of Wembley Playing Fields in opposition to the building of the Wembley Academy. 

 

Not speaking, but evident from the posters - and very welcome, was the support of the Kilburn Times for the battle to save the Centre.

Standing in for Pete Murry, ex-CNWL  lecturer and Secretary of the Green Party Trade Union Group, who had a meeting elsewhere, I pledged the support of Brent Green Party for the campaign.  I said that Further Education was particularly important to me because as an '11+ failure' who had left school at 16, attending FE evening classes in my 20s had enabled me to get the qualifications to enter teacher training.

Further Education is a lifeline, a second chance, and has the capacity to change lives. That is why we must defend it. At the same time at the other end of the age spectrum Children's Centres, which are geared to improving life chances in the early years, are facing an uncertain future. Funding is only guaranteed for one year and with 20 Centres on stream, Brent may be faced with mothballing new buildings.

These buildings in our borough have been paid for by our taxes. They are OUR buildings and as such rather than letting them be mothballed and useless, we should take them over for community use. I could have added that with the policy on so-called 'free schools' we should be wary that they might be the target for private companies or charities to set up their own schools, funded by us, but outside any democratic accountability.

If we are to fight climate change and create a low carbon economy, we need to invest in education and training. It will be a scandal if the people of Brent, with its high unemployment rate, should miss out on such opportunities.

Sign the Campaign Petition HERE   Contact the campaign to offer help at cnwlkilburn@googlemail.com

SUPPORT THE KILBURN CENTRE STUDENTS

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Learning Skills Council (LSC)/RIBA Runner Up for Innovation By Design 2008

Closed 2010 due to reduction in LSC funding?  A scandal...

A message from Students at the College of North West London (CNWL) protesting against the decision to close the Kilburn Centre on Priory Park Road.

Why are we unhappy?

Managers came into our classes on Monday 15th March and Tuesday 16th March to tell us of their decision to close the Kilburn Centre on 1st August, 2010.  We are very unhappy because the Principal, Vicki Fagg, didn't ask us for our opinions before they decided to close the Kilburn Centre.

We want to go to college to learn. Most students want to improve their education by going to the next level. How are we going to do that, if they shut down our local college?

Many of us are parents with young children and we can't travel to the other centres at Willesden or Wembley because our children go to local schools. Other students young and old also don't want to travel far away to study.

We feel cheated because we have nowhere else to go and our education will be affected.

What's good about the Kilburn Centre?

We like this college because it has courses for young people and older students. The courses offered by the college help us to get qualifications, like English, maths and IT, which companies want when we apply for jobs.

The college is also part of our local community and easy to get to. The staff are very pleasant and helpful and the teachers make things easy to understand.

Why should the Kilburn Centre stay open?

The students can not express in words how important it is for this college to stay open. It is unjust and such a waste of money to close the college because it opened only a few years ago.

It is an important land mark in our community because there are not enough places where people can go to learn new skills. We have a right to an education which suits our needs.

Most students at Kilburn are doing ESOL courses because English is not their first language. Many of them had a difficult past. They rely on their local college and don't have the confidence or the money to travel to the other sites at Willesden or Wembley. If the Kilburn Centre closes, we have no way to improve our education and get the skills to get a job.

The management are holding our future in their hands.

What is the petition for?

The students want to show how strongly we feel about the closure. We are united in the way we feel as students who enjoy coming to this college and want to make a difference. All we ask for is a chance to better our lives and maybe pass some knowledge onto our children.

We really need your support to keep our college at Kilburn open.

Please sign the petition and help us keep the Kilburn Centre open.

THE STUDENTS MAKE AN EXCELLENT CASE AND I HAVE BEEN PLEASED TO SIGN THEIR PETITION. WE NEED TO KEEP LOCAL, ACCESSIBLE EDUCATION VALUED BY THE COMMUNITY.  Martin Francis, Geen Party Candidate for Brent North

SIGN THE PETITION HERE