This PowerPoint was presented at the AVA expert seminar to explain the context of the AVA analysis and list the European Commission's main priorities both on adult education and on validation.

1. Adult education
at the European level

2. 2
Why EU is active in education and VET?
Article 165
The Union shall contribute to the
development of quality education by
encouraging
cooperation between Member States
and, if necessary, by supporting and
supplementing their
action, while fully respecting the
responsibility of the Member States
for the content of teaching
and the organisation of education
systems and their cultural and
linguistic diversity.
Article 166
The Union shall implement a
vocational training policy which
shall support and supplement
the action of the Member States,
while fully respecting the
responsibility of the Member
States for the
content and organisation of
vocational training
The Treaty on the Functioning
of the European Union

3. Education
and Training
Adult learning in Europe
The entire range of formal, non-formal and informal
activities, general and vocational, undertaken by
adults after leaving initial education and training.
European benchmark: 15% of 25-64 year olds
participate in learning by 2020.
 In 2014, the rate was 10.7% and there are
significant differences between countries

4. Who is the average adult learner?
Demographics Learning activities
Female
Young (below 34)
Employed
High educational
attainment
From Northern Europe
Work-related
Company financed
(short duration)
Non-formal learning

5. EU's 70 million low skilled adults
Vicious circle: people with high level of literacy 2.5 times more likely to
participate in learning than those with low level of literacy (PIAAC)
 1/5 EU adults lack literacy and numeracy skills
 1/4 EU adults lack ICT problem-solving skills
Low skilled people:
• are in jobs that offer no training
• do less learning than high-skilled people
• get stuck in 'low skills trap'
• miss the benefits of continued learning
Consequences include: poor employment prospects, low wages,
more socially excluded, poorer health, lower civic participation,
less trust in state

6. Tackling the low skills trap
• Ensure initial education/VET make young adults
acquire high levels of literacy, numeracy and
digital competences
• Tailor opportunities for specific groups of
adults(esp. most vulnerable) in a learner-centred
approach
• Adopt a global vision on access challenges
(motivational issues, accompanying measures for
financial barriers…)
Developing the Open Method of Coordination
What the EU strives for

7. 2011 Renewed European Agenda for
Adult Learning: Underpinning ET2020
• Making LLL and mobility a reality
• Improving quality and efficiency
• Promoting equity, social cohesion and active
citizenship
• Enhancing creativity and innovation
• Improving the knowledge base, monitoring

8. EU Agenda for Adult Learning:
Vision 2020
 Access to high quality learning any time in life
for personal, social and economic ends
 Awareness of lifelong learning benefits by learner/employer
 Fairly shared responsibility, adequate resourcing
 New approach to provision – flexible, learner-centred, clear
learning outcomes, leading sometimes validation
 Learning locally in a partnership approach will all
stakeholders
 Active learning for seniors, mutual learning between
generations

9. Implementing the European Agenda:
National Coordinators for adult learning
Erasmus+
• Staff mobility
• Strategic partnerships
EPALE
• To inform & network the AL community in Europe
• Events, news, blogs, research, partners, materials
ET2020 Working Group 'Adult learning'
• National authorities and European stakeholders represented
Studies, data collection

10. Promoting recognition and validation of
skills and competences acquired through
non-formal and informal learning
Koen NOMDEN, DG EMPL, European Commission

11. Date: in 12 pts
Council Recommendation on Non-
Formal and Informal Learning 20
December 2012
•Member States agreed to put in place
arrangements for the validation of non-formal and
informal learning (VNFIL) experiences by 2018,
enabling individuals to obtain a qualification
(or part of it) on the basis of their validated
experiences.

12. Date: in 12 pts
Elements of VNFIL arrangements:
 IDENTIFICATION
 DOCUMENTATION
 ASSESSMENT
 CERTIFICATION

13. Date: in 12 pts
VNFIL
Main principles of VNFIL arrangements:
•Linked to qualifications frameworks and in line with the EQF
•Same/equivalent standards of qualifications obtained through
formal education
•Transparent quality assurance measures supporting reliable, valid
and credible validation methodologies and tools
•Information and guidance available to individuals and
organisations
•Special "focus" on disadvantaged groups/individuals (e.g. skills
audit)
•Professional development of staff
•Use of EU transparency tools
•Synergies with credit systems

14. Date: in 12 pts
Key actors:
•Member States: to implement the Recommendation and
report on progress
•European Commission: to support and work with MS
(Inventory, Guidelines, PLAs) and report on progress
•Cedefop: to provide expertise to support the implementation
of the Recommendation
•EQF AG: forum through which Member States and the
Commission should cooperate to follow up to the
Recommendation

15. Date: in 12 pts
Stakeholder involvement:
•Involvement of all relevant stakeholders
•Employers, youth organisations and civil society organisations
to promote and facilitate the documentation of learning
outcomes acquired at work or in voluntary activities
•E&T providers to facilitate access to further learning and
to award exemptions/credits for NFIL
•Coordination between stakeholders in the education,
training, employment and youth sectors and other relevant
policy areas.

16. • OUTPUTS
o 36 reports (covering
33 countries)
o 8 Thematic studies
o 2 case studies
o A survey of projects
on validation
o A synthesis of main
findings
o An executive
summary
1. Early school leavers
2. Multi-level governance
3. Skills audits in the public sector
4. Validation methodologies
5. Guidance and
counseling
6. Raising awareness
7. Competence assessment
in the private sector
8. Research themes
2014 European Inventory on validation

17. Date: in 12 pts
European Guidelines for validating non-
formal and informal learning (2015)
http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/publ
ications-and-
resources/publications/3073
VNFIL

18. Date: in 12 pts
Looking ahead
•2016 – Light update of the European Inventory
•2018 – Update of the European Inventory
•2018 – One-off national reports. Political response
to the Council Recommendation
•2019 - Commission's report to the Council
Reports on the experience gained and implications
for the future, including if necessary a possible
review of the Recommendation.
VNFIL