Eurydice’s new report gives an overview of the current status of adult education and learning. What are the challenges and future steps for this field?
The European Commission’s (EC) education network Eurydice recently published the report ‘Adult education and training in Europe: Building inclusive pathways to skills and qualifications’. Its main purpose is to help improve the adult education and training sector by providing an overview of policies and measures currently present in Europe. Thus, helping policy makers understand which measures they need to implement and what the future challenges are. The report is based on information gathered by the Eurydice network in spring 2020, and covers 42 education and training systems in 37 countries, including Switzerland. It was reinforced with data from other organisations, like Cedefop, Eurostat and the OECD.
The main questions the report tries to address are whether authorities are committed to helping adults with low levels of basic skills or qualifications access education and training, what kind of systems exist for these learners and in what ways they are trying to facilitate the learners’ return to education and training. The first chapter introduces the reader to the level of skills and competences of adults in the 37 countries and their respective involvement in education and training. The second chapter examines national policy commitments and the way of promoting adult learning. The third chapter illustrates the types of learning offered, while the fourth investigates into funding opportunities related to the given programmes. Here, the authors highlight the fundamental role of EU funding. The fifth chapter analyses how a key factor in inciting adults to return to education, is applying flexible learning opportunities such as: distance learning, modularisation, credit-based approaches and the individualisation of learning pathways. The sixth chapter looks into the recognition and validation of informal adult learning. The seventh discusses how authorities reach out to adults with lower qualifications or basic skills. The final chapter presents existing national self-help guidance tools and online databases that support adults in actively finding learning opportunities.
The main finding of the report is that formal and informal adult education and training can contribute to individuals’ employability, health and well-being. However, in 2019 less than one third of European countries reached the benchmark of 15% of adults participating in education, and only around one in five adults had completed secondary higher education. An even more concerning statistic shows that 40% of adults risk digital exclusion by having little or no digital skills. One of the main problems is that adults with low levels of basic skills or qualifications, who would benefit most from returning to education, are those least likely to participate. Efforts need to increase in order to reach this part of the population and to offer more flexible solutions, because these individuals often need to balance multiple commitments in their daily lives. In order to boost adult education, it is important that all countries have concrete national targets and regulated systems of lifelong learning.
The Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union organised the two-day virtual conference on adult education titled ‘Adult education as a resilient response to future challenges’ on 8 – 9 September 2021. European representatives from the fields of education, economy and labour, representatives of EU member states, UNESCO and the EC met to discuss the challenges and next steps in adult education. The conference highlighted the effectiveness of cross-sectoral integration between education, business and the labour market and of good international cooperation. The experts called for an immediate increase in the number of adults enrolled in further education, for the establishment of effective and flexible lifelong learning systems and for better promotion of adult training. During the second day of the event, it was announced that the seventh Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VII) will take place in Morocco in 2022. The conference will analyse effective adult learning and education policies within the framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and within a lifelong learning perspective.
Under the Slovenian Presidency, the renewal for the European Agenda for Adult Learning is set to come out in late November. This new version will focus on building a lifelong learning culture, fostering inclusion and quality learning, sustainable funding, greening and digitalisation. In addition, during the Directors-General meeting for VET on 4 – 5 October 2021, adult learning will be a key topic.