Bad memories stop adult learners

'Lifelong learning' aims to develop new skills for work

Unhappy memories of school are preventing adults from taking advantage of training at work, claims a survey.

Despite the government's efforts to promote "lifelong learning", there are many people who are rejecting the chance of training because of negative associations with schools.

The survey, carried out by pollsters NOP for internet learning site Academee, claims that a third of people in work are reluctant to participate in training because of their experiences at school.

Men in particular were found in the survey to have negative feelings towards the idea of returning to anything that reminded them of a classroom.

Such an attitude suggests a resistance to the government's long-running campaign to encourage more people to acquire new vocational skills.

The government's ambitions for a high-skill economy depend on workers acquiring skills in areas such as information technology.

And there have been increasing reports of a "skills shortage", as employers struggle to find suitably-qualified staff for vacancies.

This week the Institute of Management published a survey claiming that 68% of personnel managers were having recruitment problems - and that many companies blamed the education system for the lack of able candidates for jobs.

This latest survey follows earlier indications of resistance among adults to returning to learning. A survey last year by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers reported that almost half of adults could not be persuaded back into learning.

And a conference at the Institute of Education this summer heard claims that over-testing in schools could deter children from learning when they were adults.