The European Context of Lifelong Learning

1. The European Context of Lifelong Learning An engendered perspective Mary Ann Rukavina Cipetić

2. LLL Definition "all learning activity undertakenthroughoutlife, with the aim of improvingknowledge,skills and competence, within apersonal, civic, social and/or employmentrelated perspective." European Commission “Making a European Area of Lifelong Learning a Reality” (22.11.2001)

3. LLL Aims empower citizens to move freely between learning settings, jobs, regions and countries, making the most of their knowledge and competences, and to meet the goals / ambitions of the EU and the candidate countries to be more prosperous, inclusive, tolerant and democratic.

4. Therefore, LLL is about: • acquiring and updating all kinds of abilities, interests, knowledge and qualifications • Promoting the development of knowledge and competences that will enable each citizen to adapt to the knowledge-based society and actively participate in all spheres of social and economic life, • valuing all forms of learning: formal learning, such as a degree course followed at university; non-formal learning, such as vocational skills acquired at the workplace; and informal learning, such as inter-generational learning, • providing "second chances" to update basic skills and also offering learning opportunities at advanced levels.

5. Fundamental Principles of LLL • from pre-school to postretirement, • the whole spectrum of formal,non-formal and informal learning. • with the objectives of learning, including active citizenship, personal fulfilment and social inclusion, as well as employment-related aspects.

6. The European Employment Strategy (EES) a long-term integrated process for employment in Europe, each year: • a) the Commission proposes, for adoption by the Council, Employment Guidelines on labour market issues: currently - employability, entrepreneurship, adaptability and equal opportunities for women and men • b) the Member States submit National Action Plans for employment for implemention of these Guidelines • c) the Commission and the Council agree on an assessment of these Action Plans (the Joint Employment Report) Following the Lisbon European Council in March 2000, lifelong learning has become a more clearly defined priority within the EES. The role and importance of lifelong learning is now stressed in a horizontal Guideline and in specific, thematic Guidelines.

7. The European Social Fund (ESF) and The EQUAL Community Initiative is the EU's main financial tool for supporting the European Employment Strategy, including • - developing basic skills and upgrading existing skills • - promotion of training cultures in enterprises and developing continuous training • - development of certification and qualification frameworks • - development of new approaches to learning through modular and open learning • - help to reform technical vocational training curricula • - strengthening links between education and the workplace • - promoting better careers information and guidance EQUAL is funded by the ESF, tests new ways of tackling discrimination and inequality experienced in the workplace and by job-seekers. It has eight themes which are framed around the European Employment Strategy. EQUAL includes a strong emphasis on lifelong learning – both by promoting equal access to education and training and the role of lifelong learning in addressing labour market inequalities.

8. Since EC Resolution on LLL 2002 In March 2004, the first report from the Council and the Commission on progress towards the Lisbon goals for education and training was adopted. The report sets out four key messages: • Investment in human resources through education and training is essential for Europe's future economic prosperity and social cohesion. • Immediate actionin three crucial areas: a) securing greater and more effective public and private investment in education and training (mobilise the necessary resources more effectively and make the profession of teachers/trainers more attractive); b) making lifelong learning a concrete reality (put in place comprehensive and coherent strategies; target efforts to disadvantaged groups ; c) establishing a Europe of education and training Higher levels of participation in lifelong learning - more specifically, in learning in adult life - must be achieved. • Higher levels of participation in lifelong learning - more specifically, in learning in adult life - must be achieved. • Education and training systems reforms must take hold more rapidly.

9. Additional findings • The report also suggests that in Europe adult learning is either too closely linked with employability or too strongly associated with compensatory education. The inadequate levels of human resources investment in the EU can only be improved by raising the contribution of the private sector, and by better use of the potential and benefits of diverse public-private partnerships.

10. “Draft 2006 Joint Progress Report of the Council and the Commission on the implementation “Education & Training2010 work program” Negative implementation/outcomes: Reforms should continue to seek synergies between economic and social policy objectives, since they are mutually supportive Reforms go in the right direction, but • investment must be increased – both public and private (private investment is still too low, and employers do not invest more than before) • although public spending on education has increased, in higher education spending, in 2001 the EU (1,28% GDP) (Denmark 2,8%, Sweden 2,3%, Finland 2,1%) is far behind e.g. Canada (2.5%) or USA (3,25%). To close the gap with the USA, the EU would have to invest 180 billion (Mrd.) € per year.

11. Further Negative implementation/outcomes: • for many countries funding remains a key challenge and an obstacle for implementing the EU and national policies, as they emphasise financial constraints. • Insufficient priority and funding has been dedicated to increasing access to adult learning opportunities, especially for older workers. • Many countries still do not have developed adequate national performance indicators to collect necessary data on own performance. • Many, but not all countries have developed policy statements on lifelong learning, like e.g. strategy documents, national action plans or framework legislation. • only 10% of adults aged 25-64, have participated in LLL. Low rates are considered to be an obstacle for increasing labour force participation, and are costly to the economy and the society as a whole. • In many countries there are still high numbers of young people leaving school without a basic level of qualifications and competences.

12. More - • Unless significantly more efforts are made in the areas of early school leaving, completion of upper-secondary education and key competences, a large(r) proportion of the next generation will face social exclusion. (at great costs to themselves and the society) • Although several countries have made effort and progress in reforming their educational system, national innovation strategies too often do not incorporate higher education reforms. There is still need to strengthen the collaboration between higher education institutions and the industry. • Most countries concentrate their efforts on target groups/populations, where VET (vocational education and training) groups have positive impact, e.g. the youth population – early school leaving. On the other hand, adults and older workers are still given insufficient priority. • Attention must also be paid to the efficiency, quality and equity objectives of the systems.

13. THE Positives 1 • All member states consider (to varying extents) that the Lisbon strategy is a factor in national education and training policy development. • An increasing number of countries now have concrete arrangements for coordination btw. the Ministries (especially for education and employment) with responsibility for implementing the VET-programmes, and for consultation of social partners. Many countries have established their own targets that relate (again to varying degrees) to the reference levels of average European performance (benchmarks) • Public spending on spending as a percentage of GDP is increasing in nearly all EU countries (2000: 4,9%; 2002: 5,2%) • Many (including most of the candidate countries), but not all countries have developed policy statements on lifelong learning, like e.g. strategy documents, national action plans or framework legislation.

14. The positives 2 • Scandinavian Countries make strong progress towards the achievement and implementation of a national approach which is comprehensive and coherent. • Several countries have changed/reformed their educational system (curricula and study programmes) with the aim to ensure that key competences are acquired by all and that young people (especially aimed for early school leavers and those with disadvantaged backgrounds) do not “slip through the net”. Most countries concentrate their efforts on the young population, where VET programmes have a positive effect on reducing the early school leavers rates. • In many countries, universities are being encouraged to play a greater part in the LLL process, by widening access for non-traditional learners (such as those from lower socio-economic background, or elderly students). • The development of a European Qualifications Framework (EFQ) continues to build and strengthen an European dimension regarding the national education and training systems (will be presented to the EP by the EC in early 2006).