The European Commission has recognized adult learning as a vital component of EU education policies, as it is essential to competitiveness and employability, social inclusion, active citizenship and personal development across Europe.
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The European Commission has recognized adult learning as a vital component of EU education policies, as it is essential to competitiveness and employability, social inclusion, active citizenship and personal development across Europe.
Adult learning covers all types of learning by adults who have left initial education and training, however far that process went. It includes learning for personal, civic and social purposes, as well as for employment-related purposes, and can take place either in formal education and training systems or other settings.
European policy
The value of adult learning to employability and mobility is widely acknowledged across the EU, but it still needs greater recognition and resources. At present, adult participation in lifelong learning varies greatly and is unsatisfactory in many EU countries. The European Union set a target for average participation in lifelong learning throughout the EU at 12.5% by 2010 for adults aged 25-64. In 2008, average participation was 9.5%.
Action has been taken at the EU level to address these shortcomings. The European Commission adopted a Communication on Adult Learning in October 2006, followed up by an Action Plan that was endorsed by national education ministers in May 2008.
Five urgent issues are identified:
- To reduce labour shortages due to demographic changes by raising skill levels in the workforce generally, and by upgrading low-skilled workers (80 million in 2006);
- To address the persistently high number of early school leavers (nearly 7 million in 2006), by offering a second chance to those who enter adulthood without any qualifications;
- To reduce poverty and social exclusion among marginalised groups. Adult learning can both improve people’s skills and help them achieve active citizenship and personal autonomy;
- To increase the integration of migrants in society and labour markets. Adult learning should offer tailor-made courses including language learning to help the process. Adult learning can help migrants to secure validation and recognition of their qualifications;
- To increase participation in lifelong learning, particularly to address the decrease in participation over the age of 34. With the average working age rising across Europe, there should be a corresponding increase in adult learning by older workers.
An efficient and high-quality adult learning sector is needed in response; therefore, work on five priority actions is being done to:
- Analyse effects of reforms in other educational sectors on adult learning;
- Improve the quality of provision and staffing;
- Increase the possibilities to achieve a qualification at least one level higher;
- Speed up the process of assessing and recognising non-formal and informal learning for disadvantaged groups;
- Improve the monitoring of the adult learning sector.
Learning from each other
The Commission has established a working group comprising representatives from EU, other participating countries and European organisations to help address these priority areas.
“Peer learning” activities in adult education and the priority areas they are working on:
“One step up”, which aims to allow people to acquire at least one additional qualification throughout their lives
Validation of non-formal and informal learning
The Lifelong Learning Programme, especially its Grundtvig sub-programme, provides important practical support for the implementation of adult learning policies.
Source: European Commission
