1 REVIEW OF ADULT AND COMMUNITY EDUCATION (ACE) FUNDING FRAMEWORK CONSULTATION DOCUMENT

This paper is one of three commissioned by ACE Aotearoa. It is intended to review the TEC consultation document on the proposed new funding framework released on 9 March 2005. The first part of this paper provides an overview of the document. The paper then moves on to a discussion and critique of it before concluding by highlighting some key questions. This paper has had to be prepared in a week and I am very conscious of the short gestation period and the fact that it is likely to suffer from this. Nevertheless I hope that it will be of some help in stimulating people involved in ACE to engage more fully with the ideas and proposals contained in the document itself. The paper draws attention to a number of very positive features of the consultation document. The document provides a useful overview of current ACE provision and outlines government decisions which have already been made concerning ACE funding. It proposes a set of criteria which it suggests should characterise a ‘successful ’ funding framework and describes the key components of the funding framework which it proposes. It concludes by outlining the next steps i