INSPECTORS have blasted adult education in Kirklees.
Their report said: "The quality of the provision is not adequate to meet the reasonable needs of those receiving it."
The damning verdict was delivered after a visit by a team from the Government's Adult Learning Inspectorate.
Experts looked at adult education in institutions contracted by Kirklees Council. These include Huddersfield Technical College, Dewsbury Technical College, voluntary-run projects and family learning schemes at 80 schools across the district.
Inspectors said the quality was not good enough to meet the needs of learners.
Adult classes examined included yoga, cookery and languages.
The report said: "Overall, leadership and management are unsatisfactory, as is the approach to equality of opportunity.
"The local education authority's approach to quality assurance is very weak."
The inspectors said Kirklees needed to manage its education subcontractors - such as colleges - better and improve management of the curriculum.
They also said better assessment and target-setting were needed to monitor learners' progress and needs.
The inspectors want more ethnic minority groups to be attracted into adult education.
Pre-course information and advice also needed improvements.
Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman has voiced concerns about the findings.
He said: "The report is a grave indictment of the quality of adult education in Kirklees.
"Adult education is crucial to personal development, business success and the performance of the economy as a whole. We need the best provision possible."
Clr John Smithson, council Cabinet member responsible for education, said the report was disappointing - and wrong.
He said the LEA had been penalised for not assessing the work of colleges - even though the colleges were self-assessed and checked by the Government's Ofsted inspectors.
He added: "Why monitor things twice, when they are professional educational institutions and are effectively monitored?"
Clr Smithson said: "We are extremely disappointed with the report. It doesn't seek to address the main areas of our work. If it did, it would have come out very good.
"It focuses on irrelevant issues. It does not accurately represents the situation. "We have every confidence in the quality of adult education from all the institutions."
