Case studies - consultancy services
Organisation: Afghan Association Paiwand (AAP)
Area: Barnet
Funding: £9,490 (2004-05) and £9,940 (2005-06)
Funding body: Living Learning Grants
AAP was set up to "improve the quality of life and promote the physical, social and mental well-being of members of the Afghani community living in the UK."
The first phase of AAP's Living Learning project was split into two areas; ESOL and media skills. The ESOL classes took place at two different school locations (to fit in with supplementary schools also run there by the organisation), and was aimed at parents whose children attended the schools. The purpose of this was to offer the opportunity for people to improve their English in a supportive and informal environment.
The idea of the course was to give adult members of the Afghan community in London an all-encompassing look at media, and the skills and careers media studies offers. The community website www.paiwand.com, shows the work and is updated on a weekly basis by the students.
For both courses, students were given homework to complement the work they did in class, and some received travel expenses to enable them to attend.
After the first phase of the training, one student took up a full time job, and two have acquired part time employment. Two have enrolled at Barnet College to study further, and all students are making good progress towards acquiring the language skills in English which will enable them to more confidently seek and secure employment and training.
The second phase of the course is now nearly completed, and the ESOL classes are continuing at two levels of ability. The structure of the media course has changed somewhat, with classes being offered in the form of e-tutorials, where students can submit work to be assessed and be taught online. This has found to be effective as it is more flexible for the students. 15 students are on target to complete their training and Afghan Association hope to be able to arrange work experience placements for them.