Brent Council Spent Over £568,000 On Literary Programmes In Five Years
Around 8% of Brent residents have no qualifications and 28% do not have any qualifications that are equivalent to at least four GCSEs graded A to C.
Brent Council has spent over £568,000 helping residents improve their English and digital skills since 2015.
To encourage children to read, the council has spent £20,500 on school programmes and £41,600 on their summer reading challenge.
While adults have benefited from the council spending £8,172 over five years on Reading Ahead and Cityread programmes.
The biggest spend from the council is the salaries of English and Digital skills at the Brent Start Adult Education Centre, with a £498,551 investment from 2015 to 2019.
Around eight per cent of residents have no qualifications and 28 per cent do not have any qualifications that are equivalent to at least four GCSEs graded A to C.
Cllr Amer Agha, Cabinet Member for Schools, Employment and Skills said: “Brent has low literacy and digital skills levels, which affects residents’ ability to get employment.
“This also makes access to online services more challenging. We need to invest in these skills to help residents find jobs, be able to access online opportunities and live a better quality of life.”
Courses on offer at the centre in Stonebridge include English as a second language, maths, childcare and early years, adult social care and British sign language.
The findings were sourced through a Freedom of Information Request by media literacy charity The Student View.