GFTU BGCM 2019 Minutes

1 across the board which I believe that no other adult college has ever got, no

areas for improvement.

I will touch on this very quickly. Much like Ruskin, some of the groups that we

work with, there are students that have been in and out of prison, that have had

substance misuse, that have learning disabilities and as far as I am aware we

are still the only college in the country that is running a course for survivors of

modern slavery. They are with us for 10 weeks. Most of them cannot draw

down funding because of their status, because of the terms that are put on

them, their bail conditions, that if they enter into education they will be arrested

and potentially deported, so we have to work with the Home Office to make

sure that does not happen and, again, it is outstanding to see the things that

those students go on to do and so far eight out of the nine that could work have

gone into employment.

Looking at the GFTU and some of the teaching methods we use, we always

think it is really important and I have had this, I used to be a trade union rep,

there is no point me giving the answers for five days, “Have you thought about

this? Have you thought about this?” It is encouraging students that when they

leave us they know where to go themselves, they know they can get on the

internet and what books to look into, but, importantly, work with each other,

work in the branch, work with fulltime officers, work with the members. Any

problems that they have got they can resolve together. We also include some

presentation work. There is nothing more nerve wracking that first time as a

trade union rep when someone says, “Can you go in front of your members,

please, and speak to them” and it can sometimes be a bear pit. I used to work

in engineering and I never left a room thinking, “I wonder what my membership

thought of that?” Here it is that little bit safer, it is a little bit more friendly and it

is that chance to work through and work with each other.

I have put a little case study together, not a real name, not a real picture, Millica

Kapoor, but everything else is real, that came on a course with us, married with

three children. Her husband was very much, “Well, you are the woman, you

look after the kids. Why would I be getting involved in that?” That is a societal

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