20.12.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 372/1

1.

The European Parliament Resolution of 16 January 2008 on adult learning: It is never too late to learn, which urges Member States to promote the acquisition of knowledge and to develop a culture of lifelong learning, notably by implementing gender equal policies designed to make adult education more attractive, more accessible and more effective.

2.

The Council conclusions of May 2008 (2) on adult learning, which established for the first time a set of common priorities to be addressed in the adult-learning sector, paved the way towards intensified European cooperation between the various stakeholders, and proposed a series of specific measures for the period 2008-10 (hereafter referred to as the ‘Action Plan’) aimed at increasing participation in, and raising the quality of, adult learning.

3.

The Resolution of the Council and of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States, meeting within the Council, of 21 November 2008 on better integrating lifelong guidance into lifelong-learning strategies, which highlighted the importance of guidance as a continuous process that enables citizens at any age and at any point in their lives to identify their capacities, competences and interests, to make educational, training and occupational decisions and to manage their life paths in learning, work and other settings.

4.

The Council conclusions of 12 May 2009 (3), which established a strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training (‘ET 2020’) which is fully consistent with the Europe 2020 strategy and whose four objectives — relating to lifelong learning and mobility, quality and efficiency, equity, social cohesion and active citizenship, as well as creativity and innovation — are equally relevant for adult learning.

5.

The 2010 joint progress report of the Council and the Commission on the implementation of the ‘Education & Training 2010’ work programme (4), which stressed that in adult learning it is also important for provision to cover the full range of key competences, and noted that there is a major challenge to ensure that all learners benefit from innovative methodologies, including those in adult learning.

6.

The Europe 2020 flagship initiatives:

7.

The Council conclusions of 11 May 2010 on the social dimension of education and training (5), which noted that expanding access to adult education can create new possibilities for active inclusion and enhanced social participation.

8.

The Council Decision of 21 October 2010 on guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States (6), which seeks to promote effective incentives for lifelong learning of those within and outside employment, ‘ensuring every adult the chance to retrain or to move one step up in their qualification’.

9.

The Council conclusions of 18-19 November 2010 on enhanced European cooperation in vocational education and training (VET) (7), which actively encouraged greater individual participation in continuing VET, increased investment in human resources development, in-company training and work-based learning, and closer collaboration between training institutions and employers, particularly in the training of low-skilled workers.

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Adult-learning reforms are increasingly anchored in overall developments in education and training, notably the development of national qualifications frameworks and lifelong-learning strategies.

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Quality assurance has been raised as an important issue in adult learning and strides are being made in developing the professional profile and training of adult-learning professionals, the accreditation of adult-learning providers and improved guidance services for adults.

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Outreach and learning opportunities are increasingly being targeted at those with the lowest levels of qualifications, thus giving them better prospects of integration into work and society.

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Non-formal and informal learning, which represent much of adult learning, are increasingly being recognised and validated but take-up of validation opportunities is often still too low.

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A start has been made on improving monitoring of the adult-learning sector.

(i)

enhance the possibilities for adults, regardless of gender and their personal and family circumstances, to access high-quality learning opportunities at any time in their lives, in order to promote personal and professional development, empowerment, adaptability, employability and active participation in society;

(ii)

develop a new approach to adult education and training which focuses on learning outcomes and learner responsibility and autonomy;

(iii)

foster greater awareness among adults that learning is a lifelong endeavour which they should pursue at regular intervals during their lives, and particularly during periods of unemployment or career transition;

(iv)

encourage the development of effective lifelong guidance systems, as well as integrated systems for the validation of non-formal and informal learning;

(v)

ensure the comprehensive provision of high-quality formal and non-formal education and training for adults aimed at acquiring key competences or leading to qualifications at all levels of the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), supported by civil society and the social partners, as well as by local authorities;

(vi)

ensure flexible arrangements adapted to different training needs of adults, including in-company training and workplace-based learning;

(vii)

foster greater awareness among employers that adult learning contributes to promoting productivity, competitiveness, creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship, and is an important factor in enhancing the employability and labour market mobility of their employees;

(viii)

encourage higher education institutions to embrace less traditional groups of learners, such as adult learners, as a means of displaying social responsibility and greater openness towards the community at large, as well as responding to demographic challenges and to the demands of an ageing society;

(ix)

promote the role of social partners and civil society in articulating training needs and developing learning opportunities for adults, as well as optimise the involvement of central, regional and local authorities;

(x)

promote a balanced allocation of education and training resources throughout the life cycle on the basis of shared responsibilities and strong public commitment, particularly to second-chance opportunities and the development of basic skills;

(xi)

involve social partners and raise their awareness of the benefits, also to them, of learning in the workplace, including basic skills provision;

(xii)

make well-developed learning provision for seniors, in order to promote active, autonomous, and healthy ageing, and which uses their knowledge, experience, social and cultural capital for the benefit of society as a whole;

(xiii)

make a strong commitment to promoting adult learning as a means of fostering solidarity between different age groups (for example, by means of an ‘intergenerational pact’) and between cultures and people of all backgrounds.

1.

Focus their efforts over the period 2012-14 on the priority areas detailed in the Annex hereto, thereby contributing to implementation of the four priorities of the ‘ET 2020’ strategic framework, in accordance with national contexts and legislation.

2.

Ensure effective liaison with the relevant ministries and stakeholders, the social partners, businesses, relevant non-governmental organisations and civil society organisations, with a view to improving coherence between policies on adult learning and broader socio-economic policies.

3.

Actively cooperate at EU level in order to support the successful implementation of the abovementioned priority areas, notably by:

(i)

ensuring complementarity and coherence between the policy initiatives undertaken in accordance with this Resolution and those developed in the context of other relevant policy processes within the ‘ET2020’ strategic framework, the Copenhagen process, the Bologna process, the EU modernisation agenda for higher education, and initiatives such as those on literacy and early school-leaving which require a concerted approach involving school education and adult learning, and promoting the adult-learning dimension within each of these;

(ii)

establishing close ongoing liaison with the national coordinators designated in the Member States and the other participating countries;

(iii)

enabling Member States and organisations supporting adult learning to share information on their policies and practices, and on their evaluation of both, through the organisation of peer-learning activities and reviews, conferences, workshops and other appropriate instruments, and, within available resources, improving data collection on adult learning as part of the updated coherent framework of indicators and benchmarks scheduled for 2013;

(iv)

strengthening the knowledge base on adult learning in Europe by commissioning studies and reinforcing the capacity of existing research structures relevant for analysing adult-learning issues, including cooperation with Eurydice and Cedefop and other relevant institutions and making full use of their information and research capacities;

(v)

pursuing and intensifying cooperation with relevant international organisations such as the OECD (in particular by exploiting the results of the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competences — PIAAC), the UN (in particular Unesco) and the Council of Europe, as well as other relevant regional or worldwide initiatives such as the Europe-Asia lifelong-learning ‘hub’ (ASEM);

(vi)

harnessing the funds available at European level to support the implementation of this agenda for adult learning;

(vii)

reporting on implementation of the agenda as part of the ‘ET 2020’ joint progress report.