'You Shall Go to the Class!'

One of the most frustrating aspects of teaching in adult education is that for part-timers like me, who are paid by the hour for the classes we actually teach, our teaching hours and our income depend on getting enough students to enrol for our courses.

One of my courses had particularly low numbers this year, and we spent the last fortnight fearing that we might not be able to continue as the powers that be had told us our course would be cancelled unless we got more students. It was very frustrating both for me and for the students not knowing whether we would only last two lessons instead of twelve.

Fortunately, we have been given a reprieve and allowed to continue until the end of term, which is a great relief. We'll now be able to settle down and get on with the work we want to do without worrying about numbers and fretting over people who've not turned up to the class.

It's a bitter-sweet victory as we know that our survival probably means that another course will have been cancelled instead of ours and one of the other tutors will have lost some of her income. But we're glad the decision went our way.

Apparently, one of the factors which swayed the powers that be was the fact that the students were prepared to put an advert in the local paper at their own expense to try to attract more class members. It was regarded as proof of their commitment.

As far as I'm concerned, it's an indication that you should never say never - miracles do happen! Sometimes it does pay to take the initiative, even though you may feel like a small cog in a big wheel.