Where did all the tutors go?

Attention-grabbing advertisements for Learndirect, the government-sponsored distance-learning company, are everywhere. But one customer is calling the scheme a sham, arguing that it is not giving people the tutoring support they need. IT worker Martin Moor came across his course, an introduction to computer networking, via his local job centre in Huddersfield, having been made redundant. The course would help him to get a job answering calls on an IT helpdesk, he thought. Thankful that the Government was picking up the tab because he was unemployed, and confident that the training was what he needed, Mr Moor logged on, eager to begin.

His enthusiasm didn't last long. "All the promotional materials boast about 'your tutor'," he says. But he was not allocated support automatically – the onus was on him to request it. When he did, he was fobbed off with a person handling general telephone enquiries at his local Learndirect centre, he says. "The guy didn't know anything about networking."

A cursory look at messages posted in chatrooms on the Learndirect site shows that others share Mr Moor's concern with the lack of tutoring. "Don't despair, just keep at 'em," writes Alan Kirkpatrick, a Learndirect employee, in reply to a complaint. "There are plenty of tutors out there without work. It may be that there aren't enough in your area to support all the learners taking the course."

Learndirect was created by Chancellor Gordon Brown as the University for Industry to improve the skills of the British workforce. Its selling point is that students can studyany time, anywhere. Courses are delivered online or via workbooks and/or CD-Roms. The organisation says it has something for everyone – the unemployed, people seeking knowledge for its own sake, employers wanting to improve their workers' skills. With 2,000 centres in England, Wales and Northern Ireland – in libraries, community centres and even pubs – it has become widely available.

The University for Industry (Ufi) boasts a strategic plan on its website, part of which is to "establish sustainable financial health" for the organisation. Mr Moor wonders whether too much revenue is being sought too soon, at the expense of good-quality education. Learndirect sells its courses to the centres offering them. The centres are then reimbursed by the Government. Martin Moor's course was sold for £120 to his local centre, which was able to claim £357.81 when he completed it. Mr Moor thinks the £120 price tag for what he describes as "a book delivered via the internet" is expensive. And he is worried that the local centres' mark-ups are supposed to pay for tutor support. If there is no support, the centres could be pocketing the difference between the cost of the course and the government reimbursement, he says.

Martin Moor was also unhappy with Learndirect's administration systems. Halfway through the course, all records of his work were lost, and he had to start again, he says. When he complained, he got nowhere. He was assured that he had been sent three letters but says only one actually arrived, and it failed to address his concerns. "It stated that I was not allocated a tutor because I did most of my learning in the local centre. This was a spectacular lie – I have never done any 'learning' there. I have always done it from home."

Now that he has completed the course, Mr Moor wonders whether his chosen subject of computer networking should be delivered via e-learning at all. It is a practical subject that needs to be taught in a hands-on way. "It's like reading a book on how to drive and then expecting to pass your test the first time you get behind the wheel," he says. "I am shocked that the course has received government funding. If anyone were foolish enough to employ me, identifying cables and associated pieces of hardware and attaching them in the correct manner would be beyond me."

The same argument could be made about other Learndirect courses covering practical subjects, such as Motor-Vehicle Technician. But Helen Milner, the director of distributed learning and operations at Ufi/Learndirect, disagrees. "E-learning is very good at providing background knowledge," she says. "A great Learndirect course is forklift-truck driving, which teaches the theory element of the job." Is there a danger that someone might be hired as a mechanic as a result of such a course? Ms Milner thinks not. "None of the courses lead to awards by themselves," says Ms Milner. "Obviously we're very sorry about Mr Moor's bad experience. Learndirect offers supported e-learning and he ought to have been provided with support sooner."

Professor Alan Smithers, the director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Liverpool University, isn't convinced by Learndirect's arguments. In most learning, it's not enough simply to present the information, he says. "You need a lot of practice. And with practical subjects there's no substitute for getting your hands on the materials."

Learndirect compares unfavourably with the Open University, says Professor Smithers. "Ufi got up and running pretty quickly and it looks as if there are administrative difficulties. Also, you'd expect Learndirect customers to receive nationally recognised certificates, which would be a means of quality control."

Martin Moor has now got a job as a civil servant, but he is resentful about his experience with Learndirect. "People like me have suffered the cruel trick of being treated as a meaningless statistic to be misrepresented in some future government report on the unemployed."

g.mccann@independent.co.uk