[originaltext] Adult EducationInterviewer: What type of

Adult Education
Interviewer: What type of people go to class at the adult education center?
Principal: Well, there are three types really. The first type are the people who want to occupy their leisure time, people who just want to use their minds a bit more. They’re usually at work all day and come in the evening once or twice a week.
Interviewer: It must be quite tiring for them to start studying again and after a day’s work!
Principal: Yes, but it’s surprising how well most of them manage to attend regularly. And of course, apart from their interest in the course itself, it’s a good opportunity for them to make some new friends.
   The second type of people who come are those who left school without sitting for their exams and who find that qualifications are necessary to get a job or get promotion in the finn where they work.  For these people, the content of the course must be interesting of course, but it’s above all the qualification at the end which matters.
Interviewer: So you do "A" levels?
Principal: Yes, and diplomas, but not in all the courses.
Interviewer: And the third type?
Principal: Well, it’s people who need to study vocational course of some kind.
Interviewer: What do you mean by vocational?
Principal: A vocational course means a training in a specific skill. The content of the course is directly related to a job of some kind.  This means studying something like computers or law. If you study English Literature for example, you either do it for personal pleasure or for a qualification. You rarely do it for your job, unless of course you want to teach it. And even then you have to go to teacher training college.
Interviewer: Do you need any qualifications to start a course?
Principal: For the majority of course, none at all, as long as you’re interested in the subject. However, some "A" level or diploma courses require previous qualifications, but if you can prove that you’ ye some experience of the subject and need the course for your job, even this is not always necessary. You should ask the Head of Department about this.
Interviewer: What about the length of the courses?
Principal: They usually last from September to May or June. But it depends on the type of course. Often, if you’re not taking an exam, you can enroll for just a term to see if you like it or not.
Interviewer: Is there any homework?
Principal: Well, "A" level and diploma courses require some extra work at home and you must make sure that you’ll have the time to do this before you begin. It’s surprising how difficult it is to study seriously if you finished school several years ago. For other courses there’s no homework unless you want to do some.
Interviewer: And the fees?
Principal: Well, obviously, that depends on the length of the course, but for a full year it’s between ￡10 and ￡25, with exam fees extra. But for unemployed people and old age pensioners, it’s very much less--about a pound.
Interviewer: Not very expensive!
Principal: No, and I think most of our students would say it’s very good value.