Athanasios Papavasileiou, Lazaros Tsikritzis, Nikolaos Matanas

1. Lifelong learning contributes to computer literacy and professional advancement. The case of the Graduates of the Department of Administrative Information Technology of the West Macedonia TEI Greece Athanasios Papavasileiou, Lazaros Tsikritzis, Nikolaos Matanas Technological Educational Institution of West Macedonia, Kozani, Greece andParaskevi Bouboureka Hellenic Open University, Patra, Greece

2. What is LLL? • The UNESCO definition: Life Long Learning (LLL) describes Education without age limits. Education and learning should expand to contain the whole life of a person, all skills and all knowledge areas, to use all possible mediums to give all people the opportunity to develop their personalities.

3. LLL in Greece and in Europe • In Greece: Only 1.2% of the adult population (from 25-65 years old) attend LLL programs, • In Europe the percentage is • 8.5% in the 15 older EC state-members • 5% in the 10 new EC state members The target percentage that Europe has set is 12.5% by 2010.

4. Characteristics of LLL students • mostly adults • have already started a career • variety of experiences and values • approach education with specific intentions • have specific expectations concerning the learning process

5. What is a OPS? The Optional Program of Studies (OPS) : • are Institutes equivalent to Universities and Technological Institutions • were set up in 1998 (A joint project of the Greek Ministry of Education and a number of Higher Education Institutes) • are intended for adults and those who haven’t had the chance to enter Higher Education.

6. Aim of the paper • This paper aims to evaluate the professional prospects of the Graduates of the OPS “Administrative Information Technology” (AIT) of West Macedonia TEI • This survey on OPS graduates is the second to be held in Greece. Methodology • Data collected during the year 2005 • A structured questionnaire was used • Sample population: 76 graduates out of 210, that is 35% of the total. (very satisfactory)

7. Thematic units of the questionnaire: • Personal data • Data concerning their studies • Employment data • Evaluation of the OPS • The type of contact with their Institute • Proposals/Opinions

8. Statistics • Data coding and statistical analysis were carried out with the use of SPSS • The main diagrams and conclusions for each thematic unit are presented with the results

9. Results and Conclusions General Elements • 75% of the graduates are women, which is considerably higher than the average tendency in Greece. Explanation: Generally speaking women are not keen on pursuing technical professions or studies • Family background: Half of the graduates’ parents have a low education profile. Nevertheless 76% of the graduates were encouraged by their families to study That means: Tertiary education is a matter of social status

11. Data concerning studies • Computer and English learning are basic skills, highly valued by the labour market in Greece. As a result 47% of the graduates speak English and 58% have got basic computer skills Comparison with a previous study (concerning a technical OPS) : The numbers are 86.5 % and 79 % respectively • Post-graduate studies: only 2% of graduates continue. This is probably due to the fact that although these degrees are officially recognized in Greece in fact they have not yet acquired essential recognition by the organizations offering post graduate studies (i.e. University post graduate departments) or the labour market and society at large.

13. The opinion of the graduates for the OPS • Too good to be.. true, questionable objectivity of the recruitment methods (phone interviews) lack of models for comparison and evaluation

14. Professional Status and Advancement 1. Employment Only 11% of the graduates were unemployed one year after having got their degree (the percentage of new graduates for the whole country is about 30% ) Explanation 59 % of the graduates were already employed when they started studying 2. Job Satisfaction Level • 50% of the working graduates were not satisfied with their jobs and managed to change themby using the OPS degree • The main reason (23,7 %) given for low job satisfaction was low salary

16. Relationship between job and studies: • Quite closely connected • 52,7% of those having a job think their job is relevant to their studies .

17. Points made by Graduates First of all Post graduate studies in Business Administration, Marketing, Information Technology, etc Most important problems • state policy • low status and subsequent recognition of their degree, • Incomplete infrastructure • lack of educational seminars • financial issues

18. Concluding remark • The AIT Department of OPS in W. Macedonia TEI proved more effective in helping working graduates to get promotion and less in helping the unemployed find a new job. • Computer and language courses are becoming increasingly popular almost indispensable. • The number of unemployed young people is increasing in Greece. They have to acquire more qualifications, which can be achieved through LLL. Unfortunately LLL course attendance is rather low. So we are obliged to re-design the OPS, upgrading studies and introducing new specialties which are more in demand by the labor market