The newly-learned skills Neville D’Souza has gained since taking courses at the Community and Trade Union Learning Centre have already led to him being offered a part-time job as an exam invigilator at his son’s secondary school.
Neville, 69, moved to east London from India with his family two years ago and began ESOL (English as a second language) Family Learning at the Hartley Centre, in Newham, where he also took an Indian cooking course, which he completed alongside a food and hygiene course. It was as a result of outreach work from the centre to Rokeby School arranged by the National Union of Teachers, that Neville was introduced to the learning centre, which he now attends twice a week. He has completed English and numeracy at Level 1 and is eager to learn how to use a computer. So far, Neville has completed 2 out of 7 courses of his European Computer Driving Licence (EDCL), an internationally-recognised qualification for computer users.
Neville now finds it much easier to conduct internet searches and is using his IT skills to arrange his personal and financial documents. He said: “The CTU learning centre is great. My tutor, Jane Warwick, is very helpful and provides any support or guidance I need. I attend the learning centre twice a week and the equipment and resources are excellent. I have no difficulty in trying to accomplish my educational goals and I am able to be flexible and fit my learning around my part-time invigilator job at Rokeby.” Neville’s long term goal is to gain full-time work. He says that job-hunting during a time of recession means that up-grading his skills is more important than ever. He said: “You can never tell what the future holds, but it is important that you accept the challenge to improve your work prospects and, as you can see, you are never too old to learn. If I can do it, so can anyone else.”
