Cameron’s ESOL cuts will make integration harder

In a keynote speech on immigration today, a couple of weeks before elections, David Cameron conceded that immigration is a hugely emotive issue that must be handled with sensitivity.
Some might question how sensitive it is to then talk about ‘good’ and ‘mass’ immigration and warn immigrants that they must learn English, at a time when his government is slashing both funding and opportunities for people who desperately want to learn the language.
English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) has seen a cut of 32 per cent in funding in the last two years.
Furthermore, according to the Action for ESOL campaign, changes to eligibility for free ESOL classes will result in around 100,000 people, three-quarters of whom are women, being hit with fees of up to £1,200 – charges they simply cannot afford.
In a survey by the Association of Colleges, 75 per cent of colleges said they would have to reduce the amount of ESOL provision they provide if there were no concessions around the changes to who is entitled to free ESOL classes, because of their concern at students’ ability to pay the fees.
The cuts to further education funding are creating the most serious crisis for the future of ESOL the country has seen. If the government truly wants people to integrate and be part of its ‘big society’ then language is the key. Among the people learning ESOL that we speak to are those who have fled war-torn countries; they want to work and want to pay their way, but they need to be able to speak the language to do that.
The prime minister’s attack comes just days after his fact-free attack on Oxford University’s record of recruiting black students and seems symptomatic of a government keen to chase a headline but not keen to explore or understand the real problems behind an issue.
Learning English on arrival in this country is the best way to get people out of poverty and into their local communities. It is the responsibility of, and in the interests of, numerous government departments to ensure people are not excluded from being able to learn English and that must be reflected in who picks up the tab.
We, literally, cannot afford the most needy and vulnerable in society to become further marginalised through an inability to learn and speak the language of this country. Something the prime minister should consider before making ill-advised attacks on immigrants.
Sally Hunt is the general secretary of the University and College Union (UCU)
Sally Hunt @'Left Foot Forward'
(GB2011)

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The World of Holy Warcraft

In December 2004, a frequent online commenter who had reached "administrator" level on his favorite chat site admitted that he was getting fed up with his online life. In his 19,938th comment on the forum, he wrote that his wife had grown impatient with how much time he spent online, he was sick of the verbal assaults from other posters, and despite being just a few posts away from the 20,000 mark, he was throwing in the towel.
"Seriously, i am tired," he wrote. "Looking at that number [of posts] just reminded me of how much time i am online my wife will love me for it, she says i spend too much time here."
He did not, however, stick to his resolution. Seven years later, this same user continues participating as a senior administrator on the same forum, where he has now posted an astonishing 63,000 posts. The forum measures "rep power," a way of rating users based on the quality of their posts, and his rep power is at 50, whereas most other users score in the teens. He's also started using the chat software Paltalk and Skype to reach out, hosting live forums.
The user's online handle is Abumubarak, and the forum where he spends hours at a time is not a gaming site or a forum about celebrity gossip, but one of the dozens of hard-line Islamist sites where commenters post news articles, terrorist propaganda, and their own opinions on the subject of jihad. And more than a few of the commenters have gone from online jihad to the real thing: The majority of Westerners following a radical interpretation of Islam who have been arrested on terrorism charges have either been active in the hard-line forums or in possession of extremist materials downloaded from the web...

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Jules Verne's Volcano

12 months after Iceland's ash cloud grounded global air transport, leading sound recordist Chris Watson reveals the secrets of one of Iceland's more literary but no less famous volcanoes.
A boyhood Jules Verne fan, Chris will retrace the steps of Professor and Axel Lidenbrock from Reykjavik to his favourite place in the world - Snaefellsjokull - the glacier that contains the passage to the Centre of the Earth in Verne's 1864 seminal work of Science Fiction. Along the way he'll encounter communities affected by the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajokull, talking to people who live within this geologically charged environment and meeting artists and musicians who have been inspired by their volcanic landscape.
Tying in with Verne's theme of geographical exploration, to reach Snaefellsjokull - known to locals simply as Jules Verne's Volcano - Chris will travel through one of Iceland's most beautiful National Parks and will use his extraordinary recording techniques to reveal the natural sounds of this unique environment. The sounds of bubbling mud pools and sulphurous springs mirroring Jules Verne's deep connection to the physical world.
Revealing interviews with leading figures from Iceland's vibrant arts scene: including the keyboardist of Sigur Ros and best-selling Icelandic author Andri Snaer Magnason will combine with Chris's recordings as he creates his own sonic adventure in the shadow of Jules Verne's novel and Iceland's volcanoes.
Producer: Rose de Larrabeiti
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
Via: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0106tjp
Broadcast on BBC Radio4 in the UK, 11.30am, Thursday 14 April 2011 - Listen on BBC iPlayer for the next 7 days

Tunisia's former President Ben Ali faces 18 charges

Tunisian authorities say they want to try former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali on 18 different charges, including voluntary manslaughter and drug-trafficking.

Justice Minister Lazhar Karoui Chebbi said the charges were among 44 to be made against Mr Ben Ali, his family and some former ministers.
An international warrant for Mr Ben Ali's arrest is in force.
He was ousted in January amid a popular uprising and fled to Saudi Arabia.
Authorities said at the time they had arrested 33 members of his family, reportedly on suspicion of plundering the country's resources.
In an interview on state TV late on Wednesday, Mr Chebbi said 18 legal cases had been prepared against Mr Ben Ali, including ''conspiring against the state, voluntary manslaughter and drug use and trafficking", reported Tap state news agency.
Mr Chebbi said authorities had issued a request to Interpol to freeze the assets of Mr Ben Ali and his family, and said a delegation was being sent to Interpol headquarters in Lyon, France, to try to speed up the enforcement of the request.
Mr Ben Ali is accused of ordering security forces to crack down on the revolt that began in mid-December.
The UN calculates 219 people died during the Tunisian uprising - including 72 in the country's jails - a far higher toll than that provided by Tunisian authorities.
Caretaker authorities have appointed a new government and the notorious and extensive secret police service has been dissolved.
Correspondents say the authorities are under pressure to establish their legitimacy in the eyes of protesters.
@'BBC'