What Happens When the Funding is cut….

Guest Author, Naoko Okumura Msc

Every Saturday, I work voluntarily as an English tutor for United Migrant Workers Education Project (UMWEP). This project offers free ESOL, IT and Art classes to migrant workers.  Although some of them have degrees in their own countries or some have been in London more than 10 years, most of them work here as cleaners or domestic workers due to their limited English knowledge, lack of opportunities to learn English and lack of their understanding of their own rights. Sometimes they encounter exploitations from their employers. So my role is not only to teach English to them, but also to raise their self-confidence and to motivate them to climb the social ladder higher as well as to help them to be able to defend their rights by themselves.

Until two years ago, certified teachers provided classes. However, after the funding was cut, the project found itself extremely challenging to continue. However, due to the high demand from students, who were the most affected ones, the project reopened by introducing the Alternative Education Model (ATM). 

Now, instead of certified teachers, volunteers like me take over the classes in order to keep the project going without funding. So far, the project has managed to provide opportunities for migrant workers to improve their skills and learn about their own skills.

In the difficult time, those who are affected most severely are the ones who have the least, who know the least and who are supported the least. This is why they need to be provided with necessary support even by the hands of volunteers. The support by volunteers might not be official, but when there is no funding available, volunteers could be a great source of making the project keep going.

Naoko Okumura has recently completed her post-graduate degree, Msc in Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies from London School of Economics and Political Science. She is now working as a researcher of migration in London. Check out Naoko's and her colleague Sonia Garac's blog here: