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Nairobi, Kenya, January 17-19, 2007 Contact: Heribert Hinzen, IIZ/DVV www.iiz-dvv.de and hinzen@iiz-dvv.de Rationale and background The Delors Report to UNESCO in 1995 claimed that „learning throughout life“is the key to a better future. Educationists should do all what is possible to create opportunities to fulfill the individuals learning needs and related capacities. Learning must be associated with all dimensions of life, expressed in the terms of long, wide and deep. And it could happen at all times, levels, and forms, be they formal, nonformal and informal. There is no longer any doubt that adult education within lifelong learning is a key factor for economic and social development, on top of having the dimension of being a human right. New policies for adult education must result in coherent forms of laws and legislation, which in turn clearly spell out ways and means for financing adult education, involving the public and the private sector, the social partners as well as the individual. But it is still quite apparent from comparative studies that changes in most countries are too slow and not far reaching, especially as they continue suffering from too low investment in their human resources. There is an urgent need to reverse this trend. As soon as we accept that adults are interested in and need lifelong learning opportunities then we are suddenly confronted with a simple reality: if the highest number of the population are adults, younger and older included, then adult learning becomes the largest part of the education sector, and why should it not receive as much, or according to size even more attention and support than any of the others? There are strong arguments for a four pillar approach to a concept and system of lifelong learning, and there should be no doubt that schools, vocational training, universities and adult education are of equal importance for the individual and society. When talking of schools then this includes all kinds of schools, from pre-schools or kindergarten to schools for the handicapped, from the comprehensive to the gymnasium type. And when looking at vocational training, one should do so again in its broadest sense, from the pre-qualification to in-service, from re-training of the unemployed to the up-grading of skills for those in senior management. And when talking of universities one thinks of the whole sector of tertiary education, including the college level as well as forms of academic further education. And therefore when turning to adult education we should take an all inclusive perspective from the younger adults to the elderly, and their respective learning needs, from the different forms of self-directed instruction to this huge variety of providing institutions and learning arrangements. Adult education provision in most countries is neither sufficient in quantity, nor in quality. Related statistics are limited in scope and often outdated. However, there are often only limited statistics, which in turn still give room to plausible arguments that participation lags much behind against what is needed in respect to employability, and an active citizenship. The challenges for all countries are: how to increase and sustain participation rates, how to stimulate the motivation of prospective learners, and how to shape a system of education and training for youth and adults which is ensuring higher levels of participation. As a general growth in adult education participation is necessary for more and better human potential, special attention is on those who normally do not take part: those who were not successful in school and vocational education and lack motivation; women who due to double stress as workers and caretakers for family and children affairs lack sufficient time; households who because of low income level lack the financial resources. Adult learning as the leading concept should foster active citizenship, strengthen personal growth and secure social inclusion, thus going far beyond employability – all of which are including education and training in a lifelong perspective. How to improve employability of the workforce without providing good quality in general and vocational training for youth and adults continuously? How to strengthen mobility without training languages and intercultural skills for younger and older adults?Policy, organisation and financingIn almost no country Governments find it difficult to have a policy for schools or higher education, usually there is legislation for both of them, and there is financial provision, though often not high enough. It is very often different for adult education where most Governments find it difficult to do the necessary. There may be even more countries in the world without adult education policies, or without legislation, and even more so often only meager finances are available. Why is that so? What could be possible reasons? We hear of the complexity of what is then described as the adult education and training market where there are so many players and where nobody wants to be regulated and controlled by others. And then there is not enough money for teachers and schools anyway. But why should youth and adults and their education and training suffer? Some of the research data available on participation rates in adult education programmes suggest that the better you are qualified via schooling and university training the more likely it is that you continue to upgrade your knowledge and skills via adult continuing education for a lifelong, at least during working life, perspective. Therefore within policy and legislation, organisation and finances we need measures that counteract this situation and support a trend where less successful and non-participants in adult training who are more likely to be the un- or underemployed should get special attention. The commission shall seek for solutions in some of these areas. Lifelong learning – including all sorts of training and re-training on all levels – has a key role to play in all matters related to employability and active citizenship. Bridges are needed between formal and non-formal educational institutions, and each provider has to play his or her respective role: schools and universities, companies and VET-institutions. On a policy level the debate should center much more around investing in people and their education by governments, employers and the learners themselves. Innovative mechanisms for learner’s accounts, educational lending and savings have to be analysed and valued. A few more aspects on financing of adult education. If we take it serious then we should not expect that any institution could do this alone. We have been living with a mixed reality where we have contributions from different sources. It may be correct to expect a substantial proportion by Government from public sources, not only because most of the tax payers are adults. But if we argue for equality in a four pillars approach to the education sector than adult education becomes a public responsibility to support adults learning. Adults share in the costs and contribute as individuals via the participants fees. Not all courses must cost the same, some should be free, or subsidized for certain groups. The private sector and many companies see further education and training of their employees as an investment into their human resources, sometimes even balanced as human capital. Here again, this investment may not be high enough, and it may be more often seen in larger companies. But we should clearly state that the privatization of adult education financing has reached a certain limit, and through the individuals and companies contribution it has always been a significant share. We have seen a quite interesting diversity of models in financing adult education coming up recently in different countries. When looking at the demand and supply side many of the professionals still claim a basic (at least) institutional funding as a prerequisite for quality provision. Others prefer to support the individual more directly through grant schemes and learning accounts. In the past we often enjoyed to insist on a dichotomy between general and vocational adult continuing education, as if they were completely separate. Today we prefer to see the interrelationships in a stronger way: much of the general has often immediate impact for the vocational. The whole debate on key competencies and core qualifications point out that the general is important for the vocational – and vice versa. When discussing literacy skills, we used to think of reading, writing and numeracy. Today we have to add all that is associated to different levels of what the information technology requires. Competence in computer skills have almost become a prerequisite for our daily life, and which office and even the smallest company can do without them? They are becoming a general basic skill, including for vocational purposes. This leads to an understanding where not the dichotomy between the general and the vocational is of interest, but to look out for the continuum in the advancement of both, and the bridges between the two. Adult education has to build on what was achieved in the periods of childhood and youth, and nurture the desire to be an active citizen as well as provide the skills to do so competently through civic adult education. What kind of implications have these insights for policy, organisation and financing adult education and training? What sort of structural support do we need? More financial input for the providing institutions, or more incentives for the individuals, or a mix of both? Participants, programmes and providersWe have compulsory schooling; we do not have compulsory adult education. And we may not aspire to have it as the freedom of choice to participate or not, and if, what, when and where has been one of the most important advantages of adult education. But again and again, there is a new myth lurking around the corner. Is in its consequence the concept of lifelong learning creating a sort of must for lifelong schooling? Should we in adult education not turn this fear around and enrich the lifetime cycle of learning with all our experiences from outside the classroom, from nonformal or informal, from self-organized and self-directed forms of education and training? Who is preparing what kind of learning agenda in adult education in the nearer future? Where are our societies moving in this era of globalization? We need qualified manpower, but what are the qualifications for the future labour market. Often and again we have re-trained our unemployed adults for jobs who were gone already when the training ended. Who knows more and better about the kind of good and prospective adult education and training programmes, which are not only following market forces and the further advancement of mastering the information technologies successfully? There is no need to repeat that we need Government input into adult education as much as we do for the other pillars of the education system. And this goes beyond policy, legislation and financing, covering areas of training or accreditation. However, we need much more acceptance of Governments role in supporting in many ways non-governmental (NGO) providers in adult education and other community based organisations (CBO). They cover a whole world of variations, from civic and environmental concerns to the training provision for profit, the courses run by churches or trade unions, from farmers associations to workshops on gender mainstreaming. All in all there seems to be no doubt that this important, and in sum it is much more than Government does or could do. But do these NGOs receive the much needed recognition, respect and even support? The role of universities is changing, and parts are transformed into institutions of lifelong learning. Past students come for all types of post graduate university degrees. There will be a new balance for the old extra-mural type and the many new academic studies for adult students. The universities role for adult education continues to become wider. We need as well their leading support for research into our field, help us to develop adult education as a strong academic discipline. And their role as a training institution for the future generation of adult education professionals, and in up-grading our staff they are indispensable. Looking at benchmarks for participation rates in different countries, then formerly the numbers of pupils in secondary schools or students in higher education were looked at predominantly. Today, there are benchmarks for participation rates in adult education coming up. This is difficult especially the more we go beyond the formal and highly institutionalized adult education providers. But it seems to be important enough to start the preparation of a system to collect relevant statistics on a global level. Objectives, activities and outputs The findings of the commission are important for all areas of adult education, be they more nonformal, formal or informal, with a more general or vocational education or re-training perspective. Attention may as well be given to new forms of e- and blended learning. The different dimensions and responsibilities of governments, stakeholders, providers, and learners shall be equally looked into. Therefore, the commission may want to represent a wide geographical and political variety, the governmental, NGO and private sectors, the national and the local level, and professional service institutions. There is a concern that despite on policy, legislative and financial level to ensure equal opportunities for women and men as well as for disabled persons, there is in reality still inequality. There is a need to document this reality, analyse the reasons and suggest possible changes, including special financial support. The commission aims at collecting information on policies and legislation, structures of organizing and financing adult education. Interesting models have been developed by Governments, by NGOs and CBOs, and all sorts of providers. There are frameworks for smaller and larger companies, for successful learners as well as returning dropouts, creating funds or saving accounts for financing education, installing schemes on tax reduction for investments in education, relating different legislative requirements closer to what a system of lifelong learning requires. There is a growing concern to view adult education financing as investment. However, knowledge of the resources needed and how they are provided, how the adult education sector in all member countries, and of what works best under which conditions is still limited for many interested parties. Here is an interest of the commission to collect relevant information and materials. Case studies may look deeper into the situation of some countries in respect to policies and realities. A diversity of strategies for financing adult education within lifelong learning may be analysed in respect to economic and social demand, labor market requirements, whether they increase participation, especially for so far non-participants. Results shall be documented and made available. Recommendations from different experiences shall be drawn. Models for adult education policies and legislation could be constructed. For those interested in the historical dimension may want to look at what ICAE had in its “Adult learning: A design for action” which was presented and agreed upon by the ICAE world assembly participants in Dar es Salaam 1976, or may even want to compare it with the recommendations on adult education that came up by UNESCO`s general conference in the same year in Nairobi. Special attention shall have the need to understand better the ways and means for better financing adult education in the North-South funding streams. Development aid is increasing on a global scale. But whether it is available for adult learning is still to be seen. If possible, recommendations to international agencies shall be developed. InvitationMost of the work will be based on ICT, especially e-mail, maybe using websites for extended information, documentation and communication possibilities. Later we shall decide how we can share the findings during the ICAE world assembly, as information beforehand, during a plenary, or within a workshop. References Delors, J. (Ed.): Learning: The treasure within. Report to UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century. Paris: UNESCO 1996 EAEA: Adult education trends and issues in Europe. Brussels: EAEA 2006 Hall, B.L, Roby Kidd (eds.): Adult learning: A design for action. Action. Oxford: Pergamon Press 1978 ICAE: Agenda for the future six years later. Montevideo: ICAE 2003 OECD: Beyond rhetoric. Adult learning policies and practices. Paris: OECD 2003
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NEWS - 18/12/06 ADULTS` RIGHT TO LEARN:
CONVERGENCE, SOLIDARITY AND ACTION |
