ABOUT RALExILA

Adult Learning and Education (ALE) refers to a range of formal and non-formal learning activities, both general and vocational, undertaken by adults after leaving initial education and training.

Individuals pursue adult learning for a variety of reasons, to:

enhance their employment prospects

develop personally or professionally

obtain transferrable skills, such as critical thinking

It also contributes to improving social cohesion, promotes active citizenship and enhances the competitiveness of businesses and European economies.

European ALE governance structures vary, reflecting national priorities, cultural contexts, and educational frameworks. Many countries have strategic policy documents for ALE, focusing on adults with lower qualifications, though few set quantitative national targets. Intersectional bodies at national or regional levels oversee ALE policies, but their composition varies.
 
Estonia’s Adult Education Act and Slovakia’s lifelong learning strategy exemplify national ALE frameworks. However, governance can be fragmented, shared horizontally across policy areas and vertically across decision- making levels. This can impact the thematic focus of ALE, depending on which ministry oversees it. For example, Finland’s Ministry of Education emphasizes self-development, while France’s shared responsibility between the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of National Education focuses on employment.
 
Challenges and opportunities for ALE governance:
 
The European Commission and EAEA advocate for better ALE governance, reflected in the New European Agenda for Adult Learning’s Priority 1. This emphasizes partnerships among governments, education providers, companies, and civil society to develop comprehensive adult learning strategies. Initiatives like Individual Learning Accounts and micro-credentials require governance structures and transnational harmonization. However, the EU can only recommend policies, not legislate, leading to varied national adaptations. Despite these challenges, European countries recognize ALE’s importance for the labor market, sustainability, digitalization, and active aging. Civil society often plays a central role in coordinating ALE efforts, fostering structured dialogues among stakeholders.

Objectives:

The European Council’s 2022 recommendation on Individual Learning Accounts (ILA) aims to support Member States in increasing training participation rates and reducing skills gaps among working-age adults. Key objectives include facilitating access to training for professional transitions, regardless of employment status, and motivating individuals to learn.

Features of ILA:

Member States should establish frameworks for guidance, validation, and access to training. ILAs provide personal budgets for training costs and related services, with entitlements that are transferable and stackable. Clear rules should encourage full utilization, and accessibility from abroad should be promoted. Employers and employment services are encouraged to offer additional training entitlements. Cooperation with social partners and civil society for outreach and regular monitoring is recommended.

Funding:

Member States should combine public and private funding sources, including national budgets and European funds like the European Social Fund Plus. Employers may contribute voluntarily or through collective bargaining.

ILA ecosystem:

1. Free career guidance and validation services for all ILA owners

2. National registry of eligible training and guidance opportunities

3. Implementation of micro-credentials based on needs

4. Navigation through a single national digital portal linked with Europass

5. Paid training leave or income replacement for training during working hours

6. Monitoring and evaluation framework

7. Sustainable funding activities

8. Outreach and awareness campaigns

Core approach to QA for ALE:

The ILA recommendation requires learning offers to be quality-assured. Core approaches include qualifications designed with clear standards for assessment and certification, supported by feedback mechanisms for continuous improvement. Quality assurance should be integral to internal management, covering all activities, with regular evaluations and transparency in results. A holistic approach, including ethical and humanistic considerations, is vital, especially for small ALE providers. Staff development, guidance systems, and adherence to European standards like EQAVET are essential. Providers must ensure comprehensive internal QA, involving learner feedback and transparency about QA criteria.

Examples of QA frameworks:

Slovenia: The Slovenian Institute for Adult Education uses comprehensive QA indicators focusing on holistic elements, with self-evaluation, internal and external monitoring, and accreditation.

UK: The Learning & Work Institute’s RAPRA framework assesses learners’ needs, monitors progression, and includes cycles for quality evaluation and improvement.

Challenges and opportunities:

Aligning external and internal quality assurance process across education levels and countries is crucial for credential comparability. Establishing unified standards customizable for each educational level, maintaining flexibility in ALE programme updates, and ensuring feasible QA processes for all providers are key challenges. Embedding learners’ feedback and increasing their trust in ALE programs are also essential. These QA principles are relevant to ILA implementation, ensuring high-quality, trusted learning opportunities.

Objectives

Support systemic change in ALE governance with collaboration of all relevant stakeholders.

Identify contextual aspects and needs for deploying training information systems.

Analyse good practices of existing systems and training registries.

Define an adapted quality and governance framework and interoperable system model, based on holistic vision of ALE quality, participatory approaches for governance, user experience and European Learning Model.

Test and refine framework and models, to support implementation and exploitation.

Values

Quality

as a guiding principle, ensuring that all project endeavors adhere to the highest standards.

Learner-centric approaches

that empower learners to navigate the diverse landscape and make personalized choices.

Transparency

by avoiding compound indicators, allowing the end user to make their own informed decisions.

Openness and inclusivity

in aggregating, sharing and disseminating data.

Democratization

of access to quality data, making it universally accessible and beneficial to a broad spectrum of stakeholders.

National Registries of Adult Learning and Education to support the deployment of Individual Learning Accounts – RALExILA

Project Ref: 101132300

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

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Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them. 

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