Lifelong Learning in Europe

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LIFELONG LEARNING
Discourses in Europe
LIFELONG LEARNING
Discourses in Europe
Carolyn Medel-Añonuevo
Editor
UNESCO Institute for Education

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Contents
Preface • vii
Acknowledgments • xi
Introduction • xiii
I. Unpacking Lifelong Learning Discourses

Rethinking Lifelong Learning Policies in Europe • 3
Nikolaus van der Pas
Meeting the Challenges of Lifelong Learning • 17

Rita Sussmuth
New Topologies in European Policies:

The Framework of Lifelong Learning Policies • 27
Christos Doukas
Lifelong Learning: Seeking Constants

for Changing Societies • 37
Evangelos Intzidis
II. Facing the Challenges of EFA in Europe

Reviewing EFA Goals in Europe • 51
John Daniel
Towards EFA Goals: Situation in Latvia

and Cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region • 61
Dace Neiburga
Reaching the Excluded for Education for All • 73

Marta Soler Gallart
Mobile Training Activities of the Community
Learning Centers in Uzbekistan • 89
Alisher Ikramov
Gains in Literacy Campaigns in Turkey • 99

Esat Sagcan
III. Reviewing Adult Education Practices

Adult Education Policies and Provision
in Ireland under the Department of Education
and Science 1997-2002: A Tale in Four Parts • 105
Helen Keogh
Adult Education in Serbia:

Challenges of Reform • 131
Snezana Medic and Katarina Popovic
New Lines and Dimensions for the

Adult Education Policy of Finland • 143
The Role of NGOs in Adult Education:

The Croatian Example • 151
Damir Matkovic
The Challenges of Teacher Training in Albania • 157

Viktor Ristani
Mobilizing for Learning at the Crossroads

of International Education Policy Frameworks:
The Role of Adult Learners Weeks and
Lifelong Learning Festivals • 169
Bettina Bochynek
Appendices
Workshop Results • 181
Sofia Conference Call to Action • 189
List of Participants • 197

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Preface
L ifelong learning has been one of the more dominant concepts in

our minds and lives in the last years. While the concept of life-
long learning with its lifewide and lifelong dimensions was strongly
featured in the UNESCO Faure Report (Learning To Be) in the sev-
enties, it was only in the mid-nineties that the concept gained wide
acceptance and momentum across the globe. The Delors Report
(Learning: The Treasure Within) triggered such worldwide interest
and discussion but it was the European Union (EU) which took the
concept seriously and systematically translated it into policy state-
ments, programs and projects. Starting with the declaration of the
European Year of Lifelong Learning in 1996 to the EU Memoran-
dum on Lifelong Learning, the member states demonstrated their
commitment in creating learning societies and developing critical
and creative citizens. After intense discussions on the Memorandum
in 2000 and 2001, the European Union developed in 2002 a con-
crete action plan on lifelong learning for the region.
Simultaneous to these developments and also as a result of the
growing importance of lifelong learning and its association to adult
education, discussions and debates on adult education also increased,
- vii -
viii LIFELONG LEARNING DISCOURSES IN EUROPE
and reached its high point with the holding of the Fifth Interna-
tional Conference on Adult Education in Hamburg in 1997. This
conference signaled a major paradigm shift, from education to learn-
ing and its Declaration and Agenda for the Future stressed the deci-
sive role of adult learning for sustainable development. Consistent
with the vision of lifelong learning, CONFINTEA V promoted the
right to learning and emphasized its role in unleashing people’s cre-
ative forces to learn. Within Europe, this call was easily adopted by
both governments and non-government organizations (NGOs).
Meanwhile, in the World Education Forum held in Dakar,
Senegal, in 2000, the community of nations pledged to achieve ba-
sic education for all by 2015. Quality lifelong Education for All
(EFA) was the important demand, considering the still dramatic
situation of having more than a hundred million children not going
to school and more than eight hundred million adults, majority of
whom are women, considered illiterates.
Given the educational profile of Europe, many perceive that
calling for the implementation of EFA goals within the region is not
appropriate. It is therefore not surprising that a discourse divide has
emerged, EFA for the South and Lifelong Learning in the North.
Policy pronouncements and programs in the South are addressing
EFA goals while lifelong learning is ever present in educational poli-
cies and programs in the North. Increasingly, however, such divide
has been questioned as statistics demonstrate that even within Eu-
rope, there is sufficient reason to address education for all. On the
other hand, lifelong learning as a discourse should also be widely
promoted as a key educational concept linked to the attainment of
EFA all over the world.
It is precisely the articulation of lifelong learning, EFA and
adult education discourses that the Regional Conference on Lifelong
Learning in Europe: Moving towards EFA Goals and CONFINTEA V
Agenda wanted to address. Held from Nov. 6-9, 2002, in Sofia,
Bulgaria, the meeting brought together almost two hundred del-
INTRODUCTION ix
egates from 40 countries in Europe, North America and the Com-

monwealth of Independent States. Europe in this sense has been
widely interpreted to accommodate diverse institutional frameworks.
From the UNESCO point of view, Europe includes Canada, Israel
and the United States of America. From the DVV-IIZ side, as Cen-
tral Asia is a new area of work, inviting stakeholders from this region
was a way of facilitating exchanges between countries who previ-
ously shared a political system but are now considered geographi-
cally separate.
By gathering representatives from governments, parliaments,
from multi-lateral organizations, non-governmental organizations,
researchers and education practitioners, from these countries, we had
envisioned a lively discussion among diverse stakeholders situated in
variety of contexts.
The four-day conference was successful in many respects—
bringing such a large number of participants coming from different
contexts, facilitating an exchange of ideas and experiences, strength-
ening partnerships and initiating new collaborative projects.
More concretely, we will use the results of this conference as
the regional input to the coming CONFINTEA V Review in Sep-
tember this year. We will use the discussions arising from this meet-
ing to strengthen our arguments for the need to have a regional
strategy for EFA. We will also use the results of our meeting in hold-
ing dialogues with relevant international, regional and national agen-
cies as we promote lifelong learning as a key educational policy im-
perative. Our initial discussions on the articulation of these three
discourses hopefully will enrich and deepen our practices not only
in Europe but in different regions.
Finally, we are particularly proud of the Sofia Call to Action
which involved intense work of many colleagues on eight progress-
ing drafts before it reached its final form, which was unanimously
endorsed by all those present during the conference. We are happy
to report that since the conference, this declaration has been trans-
lated into several languages, published in several newsletters and
posted in websites. We sincerely hope that this will be widely used
as an instrument for lobbying and advocacy in the region.
Adama Ouane
Director, UNESCO Institute for Education, Hamburg
Heribert Hinzen
Director, Institute for International Cooperation of the
German Adult Education Association, Bonn
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Acknowledgments
A ll the productive and insightful work and processes mentioned

could not have taken place if not for the collaboration of sev-
eral institutions and the involvement of many individuals. By work-
ing together with all these institutions and specific people, we have
been able to create the environment of learning together amidst di-
versity, which in itself is our wealth.
We would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt
gratitude to the Bulgarian government and the Ministry of Educa-
tion and Science, in particular, for their support. Our meeting at the
Boyana Residence, a historical and elegant conference place with
residential facilities, was made possible through their intervention.
We would like to thank specially Mr. Anastas Gerdjikov, Deputy
Minister of Education and Science, and Mr. Stefan Sofianski, Mayor
of Sofia, for addressing the conference.
A meeting with such an agenda could only have been possible
with the generous support of the European Union, particularly its
Grundtvig Program. Special mention should be given to Mr. Alan
Smith and Ms. Monika Oels for facilitating this partnership. We are
grateful to Mr. Nikolaus van der Pas, the European Commission
Director-General for Education and Culture for sharing his insights
on the implementation of lifelong learning within the EU.
At the UNESCO Headquarters, we would like to thank Mr.
Alexander Sannikov, Chief of the European Office at the Education
Sector for his support to this collaborative effort. Our sincerest grati-
tude goes to Sir John Daniel, the Assistant Director-General of
UNESCO for explaining the latest developments on EFA.
We would like to thank the European Association for the Edu-
cation of Adults (EAEA), especially Ms. Ellinor Haase, their Secre-
tary General who has been most vigilant in ensuring that adult edu-
cation associations were represented.
Within DVV-IIZ, Mr Uwe Gartenschlager and Mr. Sebastian
Welter were responsible for ensuring the smooth links among the
partners and in teaming-up governmental and civil society partici-
pation through DVV-IIZ local offices. We have also been inspired
by the presence of Rita Sussmuth, President of German Adult Edu-
cation Association, with her untiring support for women’s rights and
intercultural dialogue.
Finally, this meeting could not have been successfully held in
Bulgaria if not for the competent and friendly DVV-IIZ team in
Sofia. Mr. Johann Theessen’s vision and leadership during this meet-
ing, Ms. Emilia Ilieva’s coordination of the project and the collective
efforts of the DVV-IIZ Sofia office, all combined to make the confer-
ence a unique and unforgettable learning experience.
Last but not the least, we are grateful to conference partici-
pants, as they shared their rich experiences and insights to help us
deepen and widen our understanding of adult education and life-
long learning from a European perspective. We hope that we have
captured the wealth of exchange and we look forward to the transla-
tion of these understandings into concrete actions in our respective
fields and make a contribution towards a literate Europe that is learn-
ing to live with diversity throughout life.
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Introduction
Carolyn Medel-Añonuevo*
D iscourses, according to Foucault, are “ways of constituting

knowledge, together with the social practices, forms of sub-
jectivity and power relations which inhere in such knowledges and
relations between them. Discourses are more than ways of thinking
and producing meaning. They constitute the “nature” of the body,
unconscious and conscious mind and emotional life of the subjects
they seek to govern.”1
This publication, Lifelong Learning Discourses in Europe, con-
tains a selection of papers presented during the Pan-European Con-
ference on “Lifelong Learning in Europe: Moving towards EFA Goals
and the CONFINTEA V Agenda” in Sofia, Bulgaria in November
2002. With these papers, together with the three documents in-
*Senior Research Specialist/Project Coordinator, UNESCO In-

stitute for Education.
xiv LIFELONG LEARNING DISCOURSES IN EUROPE
cluded in the Appendix, we intend to unravel the rich texture of

talks, conversations, discussions and life practices on lifelong learn-
ing in European countries, and in other countries seeking accession
to the Union.
This conference was unique and a first of many sorts. It was the
first meeting held at the regional level which covered the three policy
discourses: Lifelong Learning, Education for All and Adult Educa-
tion. It was also the first gathering at the regional level to bring
together participants from government, non-government organiza-
tions, research institutes and academe. But more importantly, it
was the first attempt ever made to problematize the linkages across
the three policy discourses in diverse settings.
To unpack these policy discourses, we asked several questions.
What is the relevance of the EFA challenge to Europe? How is this
region faring vis-à-vis EFA goals? How do we assess the progress
that has been made towards achieving—or not achieving—the goals
of EFA as a global concern, and the challenges for Europe. To what
extent are the EFA goals reflected in the Memorandum on Life-
long Learning? How are education, learning, and employment
policies contributing to lifelong learning and what are the roles of
the citizens? What is happening in Europe in the name of adult
learning? What is happening to funding in these areas? How is the
state collaborating with its other partners? Amidst diversity of
contexts and practices, what kinds of regional cooperation is pos-
sible?
It was not easy to distil and summarize the discussions that
took place in four days in a span of five plenary sessions and 21
workshop sessions. Nonetheless, the difficulty in representing such
diverse discourses is compensated by the realization that, indeed,
diversity is a treasure. The unevenness of economic, political and
social conditions of the countries; the wide range of policy and pro-
gram implications for education and learning; and the diverse back-
grounds and range of experiences of participants presented in the
INTRODUCTION xv
conference allowed us to appreciate the nuances and complexities of

discourses on lifelong learning.
This publication is organized in three parts: 1) Unpacking Life-
long Learning Discourses; 2) Facing the Challenges of EFA in Eu-
rope; and 3) Reviewing Adult Education Practices.
Part one, Unpacking Lifelong Discourses, starts with a contribu-
tion from Nikolaus van der Pas who reflects on the European Com-
mission processes vis-à-vis lifelong learning and raises key issues in
the translation of the European Union Memorandum on Lifelong
Learning to concrete objectives and action plans. Drawing on expe-
riences in Germany, Rita Sussmuth discusses the challenges for life-
long learning in a globalized and expanded community of the Eu-
ropean Union. The next presentation by Christos Doukas describes
the new topology of lifelong learning that is framing adult educa-
tion in Greece. The section ends with Evangelos Intzidis, who not
only problematizes the dominant discourse on lifelong learning but
also elucidates on some elements of an emerging alternative discourse.
Part two, Facing the Challenges of EFA in Europe, begins with a
presentation from Sir John Daniel who focuses on the six Education
for All goals set out in Dakar, 2002 and how Europe is faring in
attaining such. From a country point of view, Dace Neiburga elabo-
rates on how Latvia has implemented the National Education for All
Plan. Next, Marta Gallart describes several literacy practices aimed
at reaching the excluded in Spain while Alisher Ikmarov submits the
Uzbekistan experience of community learning centers and its plans
for mobile training centers. Finally, the gains of the literacy cam-
paign of the Turkish government are outlined by Esat Sagcan.
Part three, Reviewing Adult Education Practices, opens with the
story of adult education in Ireland as narrated by Helen Keogh.
Another view from a different context is presented by two colleagues
from Serbia, Snezana Medic and Katarina Popovic. For comparison,
the Abstract of the Report of the Finnish Adult Education and Train-
ing Committee is also presented. Meanwhile, Damir Matkovic il-
xvi LIFELONG LEARNING DISCOURSES IN EUROPE
lustrates the role and activities of NGOs in adult education in Croatia.

This is followed by the presentation on teacher training efforts in
Albania by Viktor Ristani. The third section concludes with Bettina
Bochynek’s discussion on the key features of Adult Learners Weeks
and Lifelong Learning Festivals.
In the Appendix, one finds the 1) Workshop Results; 2) Sofia
Call to Action; and 3) List of Participants. Aside from the rich in-
sights that may be derived from the papers presented, these docu-
ments reveal the treasures that we have unearthed during the confer-
ence.
We hope that this collection of discourses will serve not only
to harness the treasures within Europe, but also be used to connect
to other regions, and to stimulate lively debates and critical reflec-
tions towards more informed and transformed practices in lifelong
learning.
Endnotes
1
Weedon, Chris. 1987. Feminist Practices and Poststructuralist Theory.
Oxford: Basil Blackwell Ltd.
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Unpacking Lifelong Learning
Discourses
Rethinking Lifelong Learning
Policies in Europe
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Nikolaus van der Pas*
“Learning—The Treasure Within”
I n Brussels, we are currently very much aware of Bulgaria. This is

partly, of course, due to following the country’s progress on the
long road to accession to the European Union (EU), but not only
that: all this autumn there is also a major exhibition from Bulgaria
in Brussels on the “Gold of the Thracians”—extremely beautiful ob-
jects, but behind the superficial beauty, the real interest of the exhi-
bition is that it reveals the tremendously high level of development
of the human competencies and creative talents, in the depths of
European history, which must have gone into discovering the pre-
cious metal from which the treasures were made, and then into pro-
cessing and transforming them and giving them a special creative
design for different purposes in everyday life.
And it is an appropriate comparison to make—the treasure of
gold with the treasure of education. You will recall that in the
*Director-General for Education and Culture, European Commis-

sion.
4 LIFELONG LEARNING DISCOURSES IN EUROPE
UNESCO context, a previous President of European Commission,

Jacques Delors published a book entitled The Treasure Within—the
treasure within, being education. It is quite obvious to you and to
me, what the importance of education is, to all of our citizens and
to all our societies. If you look at the political statements that have
come from the highest European level, that is, the European Coun-
cil, again and again, over the past few years, that people are our
greatest assets and we need to invest more in people.
Here we have an outstanding example of what Jacques Delors,
in his landmark report for Unesco, referred to as “the treasure within.”
So it is a particular pleasure to come to Bulgaria to talk about this
human kind of treasure in Europe, the treasures to be discovered
within citizens across the continent of Europe—their knowledge and
their potential to learn, to question, to doubt, as the means of achieving
the best possible results in any sphere of life: in short, the “Europe
of Knowledge.”
From Educational Policies to Policies for

Lifelong Learning (LLL) in Europe
In the foreword to its 2001 Communication “Making a Euro-
pean Area of Lifelong Learning a Reality,” the European Commis-
sion (EC) quoted an ancient Chinese proverb from the year 645 BC:
“When planning for a year, plant a corn. When planning for a de-
cade, plant trees. When planning for life, train and educate people.”
Now it is very true, yes, indeed, but do we also, in all our
countries and communities, act accordingly? Are we not very often
listening to speeches and say, yes indeed, but internally thinking of
what is really happening in the field, and you and I know that there
is a certain discrepancy between those speeches and reality. If you
look at the figures in the European Union Members States but also
in the OECD, you will see that education is indeed an important
part of public spending. There are member states of the EU that
spend 12 percent, or even more of public spending in public educa-
RETHINKING LIFELONG LEARNING POLICIES IN EUROPE / N. VAN DER PAS 5
tion. And those figures are impressive especially if you are looking
at the debate on budgetary restraints which are now taking place.
“Saving” is now very much in fashion and politically unavoidable.
However, education is not only a matter of money. It is also a matter
of finding the right methods, the right approaches. And here I am
quite sure, that again, none of us in our countries has found the
magical method which does it all.
We are all groping, especially in a period of globalization, of
technological change, with a demography which is more or less up-
side down—with an older generation which becomes predominant.
We are groping for good, better and the best methods. If I say that
we are groping for that, it is not individually inside the EU. There is
a huge variety of methods and this will probably stay like that. And
some in the EU say that this is not a very logical thing in the Euro-
pean integration context, is it? I would say that variety is a very good
thing and if I say variety inside the European Union, I would like to
extend it to all the countries also outside the EU, that variety is
wealth, and variety gives us the confrontation between different
methods, between different approaches, and it is that confrontation
which makes us wiser and helps us find a better formula than we
may find individually.
Now, it is here that the European experience may be relevant
to those countries which are not inside the EU because here we have
something which in the last two and half years has developed very
strongly, and to be quite honest, if you would have asked if I would
believe in what is happening now, I would have said no.There is no
such thing as a European education policy because of the variety
which I pointed out and which we need to maintain. But there is
definitely in the meantime a European dimension to our education
and training policy. Here, the logic of the internal market imposes
itself. Can you indeed have one market? Can you have one currency?
Can you have the freedom for all citizens to move within the EU
and work wherever they want. And start asking yourself the question
also, if there is free mobility of workers or service providers, should

there not also be a system whereby different educational systems are
recognized, where diplomas are accepted across borders. These are
all the questions and there is that dimension which is now very clearly
recognized.
The moment that came out clearly was at the EC in March
2000, when for the first time, the heads of the states and govern-
ments of the EU declared that by 2010, the EU should be the most
competitive knowledge based-economy in the world. It is easier said,
but to get to that objective we need a lot of different policy mea-
sures—whether that is in the economy, whether that is in the social
field, whether that is in the technological field, but also in the
educational arena. And the fact that education was clearly included
is a historical moment. The most competitive knowledge-based so-
ciety in the world, how to get there? As I said, it easily said than
done but how do you get there in a system where you cannot have a
common policy, whereby you have to respect the diversity of poli-
cies. Well, the next step was the acceptance of that same European
Council two years later of a very detailed work program to achieve
common objectives. Again that was a historical moment. For the
first time, while maintaining the individual and diverse policies,
member states agreed to have common objectives in their education
and training policies. They all center around three main objectives:
the first one dealing with quality and efficacy of education and train-
ing; secondly, the problem of access to training and education; and
thirdly the openness of our policies both to the society at large and
to the world at large. This is a very clear work program, which by
2004, should have delivered enough elements for a report back to
the European Council and of course, reports—interim reports should
lead us to 2010.
But the report is not all. That work plan is not all. We have
meantime adopted a conceptual paper and also something which
looks like a work program on lifelong learning. The European Coun-
cil and the Council of Ministers of Education have accepted that

and this is again an important point. New insights have led us to try
once again—because it has been tried before but without success—
to create full mobility of workers throughout the European Union
with recognition of training results, of diplomas etc. If this is already
a difficult element in universities and other educational levels, you
can imagine how difficult it is for vocational training with all the
sectoral specificities that need to be respected. But nevertheless, the
difficulty is not stopping anyone. We have made new progress here.
And I hope that in two weeks time at the educational council in
Brussels, we will have a fullscale policy statement of the EU driving
forward a system of vocational training and giving it a European
dimension. So if asked the question: Is there something like a Euro-
pean dimension on education, my answer is no, there is no policy.
But there is definitely a European dimension which is gathering its
internal dynamics. And which is not standing on its own. It is also
benefiting from international organizations and international con-
ferences like these.
To give you a very clear example, the OECD came out, at the
beginning of the year, with the now famous PISA Report, which was
made outside the European context. It has been quite a bombshell
for a number of our member states. Some of our member states who
thought they were at a high level indeed in terms of educational
policy had a very sobering read going through the PISA results. Well,
after the initial shock, which was politically not very nice for the
Ministers in charge, a very constructive debate ensued. If the report
is true, if indeed in an international comparison which goes beyond
the EU, we are not so good or even that we are so bad, we better do
something about it. And that feeds straight into the report, of objec-
tives into 2010 as set by the European Union.
Now let me say something about lifelong learning. When I
took up my present job, I was given a lot of papers about LLL. I
must admit that I was less than impressed. For the very simple rea-
son, that I saw a lot of pros but also an immense amount of concep-
tual vagueness. It is difficult to describe what exactly it was but it is
even more difficult to say how to move from the idea to the action.
Now, newcomers like me can be arrogant and think that they know
better. I have realized that it is an extremely complicated issue. And
that it is not for anyone to simply sit down and write on a piece of
paper how to define LLL precisely and especially how to implement
it. Nevertheless we tried. We have launched a Communication on
LLL which has gone through a lot of political discussions and very
broad public debate. And I think we now have something which
looks like a well-described concept but also a well-recognized grid of
actors. It is not so that LLL can be handled at just a central national
level and certainly not at the Central European level. It requires
input from all levels, at the regional level, at the local level, at the
NGO level and more importantly, at the individual level. Also, I
would like to include the educational institutions.
That recognition of LLL is now well in place and I believe that
on that basis we can now become even more concrete. But let me say,
one thing, which I believe is important. I have often heard that at the
level of European Union we tend look at educational questions, and
LLL questions in particular, too much in just the economic sense, too
much in just preparing people for better employment or making them
better workers or keeping them as good workers as we go on through
adult life. This, of course, is an important element. Education and
training are absolutely crucial for any employment policy and in that
sense for any social and economic policy at large. But we have to look
at LLL in a much wider context. Lifelong learning is very much also
about personal fulfilment and it is there for a number of societal rea-
sons. So just a caveat, if I am talking about LLL from a European
Union point of view, it is not just “employment,” it is not just “the
economy,” it is very much “society,” it is very much “people.”
We now have a rather well-described framework on LLL. In
that framework, you will find six major points. First of all, the need
to get better methods and practices of valuing learning and by that
we mean, we need to find methods, in order to make sure that is it
not just the formal diploma of a school or of any educational insti-
tution which is recognized as being, shall I say, the basis of knowl-
edge or the basis of competence. A lot of things are going in terms of
informal and non-formal learning and we need to find ways to rec-
ognize that. It is very difficult, indeed, because any employer, any
educational institution would always want to see a bit of proof, and
not just simply the word of a person. We need to find ways and
means of certifying informal and non-formal learning. Moreover, we
need to find European instruments to recognize such certification.
You recall what I said about mobility, about people moving inside
the EU and being able to do so without barriers. Well, if it so diffi-
cult at the international level, how difficult is it at the European
level? We have tried to be very pragmatic about it and we have worked
at such things as the European CVs which are no more than descrip-
tions of what people have done. But it a common format at the
European level. It is becoming recognizable. It is something which
social partners can work with it. And therefore, something which
may find its place gradually in the marketplace. But that is not
enough. We need to go further and this is a big task.
The second element we need to concentrate on, in the concep-
tual grid of LLL is information, guidance and counselling. It is one
thing to say that people need to learn, all throughout life—it is
good to say that—but if you are out of school, if you have started
working and somebody tells you, it would a good idea if you learn
something more. Where? What possibilities exist if you do not know
where to go? It is all fine, all theoretical, but nothing will happen.
So here we need very much to do something, and again at all levels.
At the European level, we are now working on a European portal
which not only should give those workers and service providers in-
side the European Union who want to work somewhere else outside
their own country an indication of work possibilities but also to link

up to that a portal of learning opportunities and learning possibili-
ties. But that European portal can only have a value if similar
things happen in much more detail at the national, regional and
local levels. But without that very importance piece of information
for those who want to continue learning, LLL will not work. And if
I use the word information—the portal, the guidance—availability
of consultants is very much important. Of course, not just by star-
ing at the screen and seeing an address that you will be motivated.
You need to find people to show the way.
A third element in LLL is the investment issue. And the in-
vestment issue is not only about money, of course, but also about
time available for learning. And here we get into very deep water
indeed. Investment, first of all, is reckoned in terms of money, in
terms of how much money we should spend on education. It is far
for me, from the EU, to say what member states should invest in
education and training. We are looking nevertheless at statistics and
as I mentioned earlier, around 12 percent of public spending go to
education in a number of countries. But is that a sufficient param-
eter? We have also looked at the percentage of educational invest-
ments compared to GDP. And we see there that the figures are very
stable indeed but in some countries, the figures are going down
since the beginning of the 90s. Some of my colleagues have even
made a bold prediction that if those slightly downward trends are
going to be maintained, then the present figure which we have in
the EU averaging 5 percent of GDP on education may find itself
somewhere around 4 percent by 2010 which is the ambitious and
critical date. Now predictions are made, of course, so in order for
that not to happen. So perhaps it is useful to say that if the trends
are not reversed, then we will not reach the objectives which the
European Council in Lisbon has defined for 2010. Now it is again
not for the European Commission to say to the member states how
much to spend. But the warning could be given. And what we hope
will happen is that the member states will come out and say we need
a transparent measure. We need to fix benchmarks for ourselves so
that we could show where we are going. So that whenever there is a
call for more European spending on education, we can with statis-
tics, say that this is actually what is happening and what is going to
happen.
But as I said, it is not only a matter of money but also a matter
of time, which again becomes a money issue. Any worker in any
company, wishing to pick up training and education in wider sense,
needs the time to do so. It is not enough to say, well, just do it in the
evenings, because that will probably not work. Formulas must be
worked out to give workers the possibility to do indeed more train-
ing, to do indeed more education. All sorts of ideas have already
been put in the table such as education credits, which can be intro-
duced and which can be given to young people. But of course, the
question is there. Who in the end is going to pay for this? Is it the
employers? Is it the workers themselves? Is it the state that has to
come in? The answer is probably that all three together have to work
out something which can carry this sort of development.
The fourth element which I want to mention in the LLL con-
text is the proximity between learners and learning opportunities.
This is more than the point I just mentioned about information. It
is the actual opportunity for someone to go somewhere and to ob-
tain that training. Here again this is not only a European responsi-
bility as such because people live in villages, in towns, in regions, in
countries. It is there that we believe we have to work, even more
than is already happening, in the creation of learning centers which
can be day-schools which are open longer than for the normal edu-
cation, which can be universities, which can be public places turned
into learning centers—learning centers with teachers and facilities,
and the new technologies required for modern pedagogy. In this
context also, I would like to mention the second chance schools.
They do already exist to a large extent. But maybe a lot needs to be
done and moreover, the approach needs to changed. It should not

be the sort of second chance where somebody, who has fallen out of
previous education for whatever reason, gets to have one more chance
in one’s life to have the opportunity to pick up the educational road
and to do what is necessary to have a better career. If I try to dream
a bit, about what I would like to see, we should in the end, have
educational systems which are open always. By which I mean from
the bottom to the top but also sideways. You can always during
your life go to further levels of education, benefiting from the credits
which you have in your previous levels of education collected. That
is perhaps very ambitious but in the end, we should get there.
I am speaking here from personal experience. I am a lifelong
learner. So I have done a number of chunks of education and I could
tell you all the difficulties that I have just mentioned in terms of
finding the right place, finding the right information, finding the
time, getting my previous attainments recognized. I have lived them
all. And especially, one thing I should mention is the pain which I
have always felt going to the next phase, I had to do in fact almost
half of what I did before, which is a waste of time.
My fifth point is about basic skills that is an important point
in the lifelong learning theme. You might say basic skills but that is
basic school is it not. No it is not. It is of course, basic schools. But
we should see unfortunately that quite a large percentage of our
population, also in our developed societies still have great difficul-
ties in reading, writing and arithmetic. Those basic skills are not
necessarily and by definition available. But basic skills are not just
simply those three points. We have in the meantime defined that
there are such things as social skills which are extremely important
for further life. And that the ICTs, the new information and com-
munication technologies are becoming almost as important as writ-
ing. And some of us in the European Union, want to add such things
as entrepreneurship to basic schools so that the young people know
and dare to take risks later on in order for them to become driving
forces in the economy. Again here there is a lot still to be done.
The sixth point is innovative teaching methods. Innovative
pedagogy. This has not only to do with introducing computers in
classrooms. It has to do with creating the software for those com-
puters and to create such software that could facilitate interactive
play between teachers and their pupils, between students and their
professors in order to learn more, to learn better, and to handle their
learning materials in a more intelligent manner. But that also re-
quires that the teachers and the professors are capable of handling
those new contents and those new technologies. We have statistics
in Brussels which show that almost all schools are now connected to
the internet, that the number of computers per pupils in the schools
is going down all the time. In other words, more and more comput-
ers per classroom. But we still are not very impressed by the use
which is actually made of those computers and of those internet
connections.There is still enormous scope for improvement in a peda-
gogical sense.
These are the six big points which we have worked out in the
conceptual lifelong learning framework. And it is quite obvious that
if I turn to adult education, that each of these points has a very great
importance in that context. I am not going to spell this out but I am
quite sure you see the links with adult education.
I go back to lifelong learning and lifewide learning. It is not
just a matter of time. It must also be a matter of content. It must
also be lifewide learning and by that I mean that we need to look at
lifelong learning also as a means to improve the gender balance. Here
in certain areas, there is still a big discrepancy. I am not talking
about the teachers’ population, because here female colleagues have,
traditionally, a big advance over male colleagues. But if we look at
the statistics we have, for instance in the students who come out
from mathematics and the sciences, here is the big discrepancy. The
figures show one to four relationship in some of our member states.
Some are doing better but it goes up to two. If we want to catch up

with our backlog here in comparison to US and Japan, the only
possibility we have is creating many more opportunities for women,
stimulating many more women to take that sort of line and LLL is
the overarching concept under which this should happen.
But also from an even wider point of view, there is also this
lifewide context. I have already said that we are not looking only at
the economic side, we are also looking at the citizens’ side, at the
personal side of it all. And it is only in that way that we can hope to
achieve cohesive and inclusive societies. It is by giving people a sense
of purpose, giving them a level of education which prepares them
not only for a job but also makes them complete human beings—in
terms of their health, in terms of their participation in society, in
democracy. It also has something to do with our competitiveness,
very much an economic point of view. But competitiveness and the
personal development side, are closely linked to each other. There-
fore, I would like to include that as well in the lifewide context.
Especially after the eleventh of September, we have been ask-
ing ourselves in Brussels, what we can do through education and
through culture as well, to bring people closer together. Again, it is
so obvious that education and culture are channels, privileged chan-
nels, to make people know each other, understand each other. But to
do it, to make it happen is again a challenge to us all. But education
is definitely the best possible means which I can think of to make
people more tolerant, to make them keen to know others, to know
other societies, to know other cultures, and therefore, to become
better citizens in our ever more international and intercultural world.
Finally, I would like to say a word about the NGOs. I know
many of you here represent that. I would like to first of all thank all
those who have been involved in the work which we have been doing
up to now—an involvement which we want to stimulate very much.
I have mentioned to you the objectives action plan and the work
program which is attached to that. In the work which is going on,
NGOs are involved and will be involved. In the projects that are
being supported by our SOCRATES program, the Leonardo da Vinci
Program, and their subprograms, the NGOs have a very important
role to play. And more generally, the NGOs are a very potable and a
very efficient voice in our democracies. And after having described
all the questions we have to answer to get to a convincing system of
LLL, it is quite obvious that it is not for an official like me or a
minister or a ministry to make it happen. This is something which
mobilizes us all. The involvement from bottom up as it is sometimes
called, of everybody, is absolutely essential and it is in that sense, in
that context, that NGOs play an absolutely crucial role.
I have seen from the previous papers of world conferences like
this that there has been a very intelligent approach. That is, we are
going to set together a number of tasks for ourselves, each ourselves
and we will meet again to see what has happened. This is not yet a
peer review but it starts looking like it. That is exactly what needs
to happen. It is only with the pressure of comparing our own expe-
riences that we will make progress. That you are doing this at such
an international scale is very impressive because I know that, al-
ready, at the European level, it is very difficult to achieve.
Now after what I told you, you would have understood that
within the EU, at least in the European Commission, that is me
and my colleagues, would like to see much more of that—much
more instruments which can make this peer review efficient. It is for
that reason that we are working on benchmarks, on indicators, and I
know already that when we propose them, there will a difficult de-
bate among Ministers, whether such benchmarks and indicators are
really desirable. Why? Because it brings out the good and the bad
pupils among the member-states. It shows who has done well and
who has not done well. And politically speaking, that is not always
very pleasant. But it is very efficient and I believe that slowly every-
body starts to realize that it is good to look at the mirror from time
to time and if that mirror is held by one of your colleagues who
happens to be a friend, that is perhaps not only a useful but a

pleasant experience. It is that process which we try to contribute to
in Brussels and which you try to contribute on a worldwide scale.
Meeting the Challenges of
Lifelong Learning
Rita Süssmuth*
I n view of the forthcoming eastward expansion of the European

Union, it would seem not just appropriate but necessary to exam-
ine to what extent the principles and decisions of the international
plans for education have actually found their way into educational
policy and practice in Europe.
Given the accelerating pace of the worldwide exchange of in-
formation and knowledge, and against the background of increasing
economic and social globalization, lifelong learning will be a key
factor in promoting social justice and development in this continent
and the world community. From the ever faster expansion in “world
knowledge,” it is becoming increasingly clear that good basic educa-
tion, vocational education, and higher education are not enough to
give people all the knowledge that they will need throughout their
lives if they are to keep up with the latest developments in their
*President, German Adult Education Association.

fields of work. This is particularly true in the light of growing diver-

gence in social institutions in response to new influences, which
calls for the learning of new skills and encourages an independent
approach to decision-making in complex contexts and circumstances
of life.
It is important to ask “what,” “how,” and “when,” people should
learn. In addition to good basic education, it is becoming increas-
ingly important to give people the constant opportunity of further
and continuing education.
For this purpose, “personality development,” “vocational con-
tinuing education” and “democracy-building” form an inseparable
unit: the ability to form independent judgments and decisions is
becoming a crucial requirement both for active participation in so-
cial processes and for lasting employment and security of income.
If we want to ensure democracy, social justice and peace in
Europe for the long term, open access to education and continu-
ing education for all sections of the population that is implicit in
the concept of “Education for All” must become key objectives in
the development of our educational systems. But despite the fact
that many countries in Europe possess potentially powerful edu-
cational systems, it is evident that there is still a long way to go
before the following items on the CONFINTEA agenda are fully
implemented everywhere:
1) Participation in democracy,
2) High-quality education,
3) Literacy and basic education,
4) Equality between men and women, and
5) Employment promotion.
Allow me to pick out one topic: despite undeniable progress,
equality between men and women has certainly not been achieved
everywhere. In many parts of Europe, women are still at a disadvan-
tage in terms of access to high-quality education, and to leading
positions in political, social and occupational life.
MEETING THE CHALLENGES OF LIFELONG LEARNING / R. SUSSMUTH 19
However, we should remember that when women started read-

ing they became dangerous—or to put it another way, if we want to
meet the challenges facing us, we shall not get anywhere if we dis-
pense with the creativity and imagination of women because of gen-
der discrimination.
In the Memorandum on Lifelong Learning and the Action Plan
based on it, the European Union has the wherewithal to create a
coherent policy for continuing education, but the discussions that
have taken place on these have revealed the huge differences between
regions in theoretical approaches to the concept of lifelong learning
and in its practical implementation.
Furthermore, the results of the PISA (Program of International
Student Assessment) study conducted throughout Europe clearly
show that there is an urgent need to act if we wish to meet the
challenges of the future.
Besides teaching basic and specialist knowledge, education
needs to devote more attention to applied and learner-oriented learn-
ing which places responsibility for the outcomes of learning more
firmly in the hands of the people who will actually use it later. The
decision must also be taken to give the same recognition to non-
formal and informal education as to formal education to attract sec-
tions of the population that have so far eschewed education into the
continuing education provision.
Considerable efforts need to be made, therefore, to ally the
ideals of lifelong learning and Education for All more closely with
the realities of educational action.
The Particular Place of Adult Education in

the Concept of Lifelong Learning
Anyone who alludes to the growing importance of continuing
education, is sure of general agreement in any discussion of educa-
tion policy. However, much the concept of the “Information and
Knowledge Society,” which is set to be a feature of the 21st century,
dominates conference debates and symposia, we have to admit that

the institutions that will be needed to put it into practice are being
weakened at the same time. One of the primary tasks of any State is
to educate its citizens. Much greater attention must be given to pub-
lic responsibility for lifelong learning. “Public-private partnerships”
to fund educational activities may very well be possible and neces-
sary, but they should not lead to the State’s being allowed to escape
its responsibility.
An eloquent example is offered by the learning of languages:
everyone thinks it is a good thing, since the ability to acquire and
speak languages is one of the essential requirements for the success of
European integration—but when the question of funding arises, re-
sistance increases. Shortage of money and tight national budgets
cannot be the only explanation of this phenomenon.
Rather, there is a worrying tendency to subject education and
continuing education to cost-benefit analysis. Organizers and par-
ticipants alike of educational programs increasingly measure the
significance of learning in terms of the acquisition of vocational
qualifications, and the achievement of personal career goals. Less
importance, on the other hand, is accorded to holistic approaches
to education aimed at developing the personality within the social
context. Regrettably, national educational systems are being re-
structured along these lines, frequently because of pressure to make
savings. I have noticed myself that only a small proportion of young
people and young adults still see any point in taking part in edu-
cation or continuing education that is not concerned with money
and success.
It is easy to see what this may mean for a European Union that
is preparing to take in ten new states in 2004, with nearly 100
million inhabitants who are rooted in a variety of social and cultural
traditions and have only been able to acquire the first principles of
democratic ways of thinking and acting.
In my view, this will be one of the principal tasks for the
development and implementation of the concept of lifelong learn-

ing. What will matter is to see how far it is possible to make plain
the key role played by adult education in the development of the
personality as a two-way process involving the individual and his
or her contexts. Since adult education bases learning on the learner’s
life experiences and is, therefore, close to life and practice, it can
teach the essence of democratically organized problem-solving and
decision-making. If people are, in this way, given tools to develop
judgmental ability that draw on their own experience of life, they
will also develop a greater understanding of their own role and
importance in social contexts. Slogans such as “globalization,”
“speeding-up” and “change,” which provoke anxiety, will lose their
terrors because they can be brought within the frame of reference
of personal experience.
To the extent that Europe is becoming more varied as a result
of the influx of new ethnic groups and cultures, the teaching of uni-
versal human values is increasingly important. While the inherited
understanding of citizenship draws on national tradition, religion
and culture, it also contains a latent rejection of the Other. There is
no need to point to the potential dangers of this tendency for Euro-
pean unification.
In my opinion, we should no longer be looking backwards and
asking “What is my starting point in the world?” but should be
debating the question “What sort of world are we learning for?”
We need, therefore, to be open towards the new if we are to
successfully create Europe out of our common living space by learn-
ing from one another. A suitable starting point for reflection is the
“Civil Society,” which places the citizen at the heart of social and
national coexistence.
Adult education is always to some extent a catching-up pro-
cess. And adults are now faced with the difficult task of relearning:
new discoveries have to be integrated into existing knowledge, preju-
dices and stereotypes have to be reconciled with new awarenesses,
and contacts have to be made with people with whom one would
previously have thought had little in common. It is this learning
based on reflection that is one of the peculiarities of adult educa-
tion. Adults are able to transform learning and behavioral changes
into practical action much more swiftly than children and young
people
While there is a responsibility to create the motivation for
lifelong learning during childhood and youth, so that “learning to
learn” becomes a key goal of basic education, adult and continuing
education have the task of maintaining and enhancing this moti-
vation.
This also shows clearly why modern approaches to vocational
continuing education should focus less on teaching specialist knowl-
edge than on learning the skills and abilities that will enable people
to set their own learning objectives and to organize their own acqui-
sition of knowledge.
In the context of lifelong learning, adult education is impor-
tant because it can build bridges. A very new trend in this connec-
tion is the rediscovery of the capacity of older people for learning
and development. Their experiential knowledge is increasingly val-
ued even in commercial circles, as is clear from the growing num-
bers of retired people who are being brought back into working
life.
Equally new is a development which no longer regards univer-
sities merely as places of learning for young students but also as
“Universities of the Third Age.”
Educational systems which fail to make use of this experiential
potential of adult education by bringing together people with dif-
ferent background, social status, gender and age, pose severe con-
straints on the social development of a large measure of creativity
and imagination.
Creativity in Shaping Europe

It is as difficult to say what Europe is as to describe its geo-
graphical boundaries. While the border may be relatively easy to
define in the west, where Portugal meets the Atlantic, it is appre-
ciably harder in the east. The answer to the question whether Eu-
rope stops at the Urals or only at the Pacific depends less on the
views of Western and Central Europeans than on how people to
the east of these geographical markers feel about life and what their
values are.
There are, therefore, good reasons to regard Europe above all as
an “idea” which allows of many different interpretations. It will be
formed through education and interchange, before it takes shape as
a “European area” and becomes a concept.
Hence, “Europe” is firstly a mental construct, the form and
appearance of which will be influenced and may be redefined by
every generation and every individual who feels an allegiance to that
idea. In order to make “Europe” a practical proposition, it therefore
needs an “ideal,” which assumes that what is wanted is known.
This gives European adult education the great opportunity to
play an active part in influencing the way in which the European
idea develops. Adult education institutions are particularly well suited
to fleshing out the idea of a united Europe in line with the goals
described in “Education for All” and the CONFINTEA Agenda.
Political participation is needed in a world of financial deals: capital
is there for people, not the other way around.
Europe cannot be understood merely as a “common market”
or an area for the free movement of people and goods. Political edu-
cation must form an integral part of social policy, and must be given
back to the people, who have all the rights and obligations of adult
citizens.
This must be a major task of adult education, and adult edu-
cation institutions, being “community learning centers” have the
credentials to carry it out. As places of learning that is intercul-
tural and observes gender equality, they are in close contact with
people at the local level. Through their educational activities they
can provide first-hand experience of the “Civil Society” as a way for
different ethnic groups and cultures in society to live together in
peace.
Let me just mention that the first steps have been taken in this
direction: since the summer of this year, the Institute for Interna-
tional Cooperation of the German Adult Education Centre (IIZ/
DVV) has been conducting three large scale projects relating to Eu-
ropean unification with numerous partners from various countries.
For example, the program “Future of Europe,” aims through a wide
variety of educational activities to bring home to people the various
dimensions of Europe and to arouse curiosity about the countries
that will shortly become Member States of the European Union.
The project “Network Intercultural Learning in Europe (NILE)”
sets out to mold a range of Intercultural Learning initiatives into a
structured concept so that support can be given to its integration as
a permanent feature of “Lifelong Learning.” And lastly, the Institute
is coordinating a project entitled “Our Muslim Neighbors in Eu-
rope,” which, in the aftermath of the events of 11 September 2001,
is designed to foster dialogue between Christian and Muslim reli-
gions and cultures.
As is evident from many years of international cooperation,
adult education is indeed peculiarly well placed, because of its con-
cern with real individuals, to build bridges of understanding be-
tween people of different socio-cultural backgrounds through edu-
cation and dialogue. Its local connections also provide an atmosphere
of trust so that encounters can escape the political and economic
causes of friction found at the national level. Adult education and
intercultural learning thus make an important contribution to sta-
bility and confidence-building in international contexts.
However, further institutionalization is needed. International
adult education associations are in their infancy. They generally func-
tion without any financial basis, and most efforts at international

cooperation are funded as short-term projects.
We must, therefore, do all we can to persuade politicians and
society to make the requisite funds available to safeguard the further
development of existing initiatives. It cannot be right in my view to
place the people employed in international cooperation projects un-
der the constant threat of withdrawal of funding and to cause them
to worry about their continued employment. International coopera-
tion needs longer periods in which to build up confidence if it is to
be effective. The experiences gained by those involved are too worth-
while in many respects for us to have to keep building them up
again and again simply in order to hold staff costs to a minimum.
Let me mention one last point in this context. In view of the
difficult processes of transformation which the countries of Eastern
Europe and the former Soviet Union have had to undergo since the
collapse of the socialist system, the exchange of experience and “best
practice” has acquired particular importance. We cannot afford, nor
is it our intention, to set up new borders to the east through the
expansion of the European Union following the fall of the “Iron
Curtain”. It is indeed in our vital interest to do the opposite, to
attach those States that will not join the European Union, or will
not join yet, through ties of cooperation that are as close as possible.
Only through partnership and dialogue can the modernization of
economic and social institutions be achieved, and social justice and
peace in Europe guaranteed as a whole. Given the speed with which
developments are occurring worldwide, modernization which is sim-
ply aimed at catching up will hardly encompass the intended re-
sults, especially if it remains at the national level. New approaches
are therefore needed, and these must be developed here as well as
there, using people’s creative abilities and imagination.
I hope that this conference will embrace the objective of high-
quality lifelong education for all—referred to in the EFA Goals and
the CONFINTEA Agenda—and will lead to active measures to sup-
port and accelerate the establishment and development of adult edu-

cational institutions in the countries of Eastern Europe so that we
can find positive answers to the challenges that Europe and the world
face in the future.
New Topologies in European Policies:
the Framework of Lifelong Learning Policies
Christos Doukas*
T he concept of lifelong learning (LLL) is not a new one.

Socrates and Plato were among the first philosophers who
conceived the meaning of learning as a lifelong process. Ancient
Athens was a learning city which promoted learning and encour-
aged the participation of citizens in decision-making. Since then
things have changed and are continuously changing. As a result,
we have to redefine the old concept of learning, taking into ac-
count the new environments in which various forms of learning
are taking place.
In this presentation, I will focus on the attempts made by the
General Secretariat for Adult Education (GSAE) in Greece at rede-
signing the system of adult education.
The restructuring of Adult Education in Greece aims at re-
sponding to the changing demands of work, citizenship and per-
*Secretary-General, General Secretariat of Adult Education, Min-

istry of National Education and Religious Affairs, Greece.
sonal life. The new framework is based on the reorganization of learn-

ing in the context of lifelong learning.
Lifelong learning policies constitute a new space in our learn-
ing environment. These policies are necessitated by the new tech-
nologies of communication-information and the emergence of new
topologies of learning which incorporate the formal, informal and
non-formal aspects of social, cultural and work life. Following the
social geographer D. Harvey, who has defined the notion of time-
space compression as a process of transformation of life in its differ-
ent aspects, we can consider LLL as a time-space compression of
learning. It is an analogue of the process that took place in Europe
after the invention of printed texts which incorporated oral-written
modes of communication, reduced time-space, and led, within the
wider framework of the social-political evolution of enlightenment,
to the establishment of the formal education system of the 18th
century.
The new time-space compression of learning in our era is made
possible through the digital means of communication which has
integrated the previous oral-written-printed texts into a multimodal
context. This context is a multimodal one in the sense that the tex-
tual is related to the audio, to the visual, the spatial and so on. As a
consequence, the new learning environment demands new abilities
for the understanding and production of meaning. It demands the
redefinition of literacy requirements for new workers, new citizens,
or new persons. In redesigning the Greek adult education system,
we took into account the topologies of the system at the local, na-
tional and global levels.
The new framework of the system of adult education in Greece
as earlier mentioned has been based on the principle of lifelong learn-
ing, in general, and on the following three dimensions, in particu-
lar:
• The continuum of the different forms of lifelong learning
• The interaction of formal, non-formal and informal modes of
NEW TOPOLOGIES IN EUROPEAN POLICIES / C. DOUKAS 29
learning, so that learning is extended in every space of life—

school, workplace, social and personal life; and
• The implementation of lifelong learning strategies through
the educational system, and, more specifically, through the
“learning to learn” strategy.
All projects form part of an integrated lifelong learning system.
The aim of the projects is to encourage adults to continue to partici-
pate in the learning process. This means that they are encouraged to
complete education and/or to participate in lifelong learning net-
works. The system functions as a link between formal, non-formal
and informal education.
Learning within the framework of LLL is neither an accumu-
lation of academic knowledge nor training of limited range of appli-
cation and value. Rather, it has to do with the acquisition of multi-
literacies in the domains of communication, information and eco-
nomic enterprise. The goal here is the development of active citizens
who will assume the responsibility of upgrading their competencies
to deal with continuous changes.
Learning in the context of multiliteracies is not restricted to
the acquisition of basic skills. Mathematics, reading, and writing are
as important as ever. However, literacies should not be conceived
simply as a number of rules and conventions on spelling and read-
ing, or of a list of correct ready-made answers. The new learning
environments are less about imparting defined knowledge, and more
about shaping a kind of person open to changes, diversity, and new
ways of problem-solving. The new literacy approach is meant to
supplement the old basic skills with enhanced capacities for effective
communication in diverse settings, using tools compatible with the
new kind of world we live and the world of the future. Lifelong
learning curriculum aimed at multiliteracies covers the following
areas:
• Literacy,
• Numeracy,
• Digital literacy,
• Science literacy,
• Media literacy,
• Historic literacy,
• Environmental literacy,
• Literacies for the workplace, and
• Cultural literacy.
Concerning the methodology of learning, I must stress that
the methodology is based on the principles of lifelong learning for
adults and, in particular, the autonomy, the diversity of needs and
the empirical/practical character of learning. The main point in the
pedagogy of LLL multiliteracies is that learning is not an individual-
ized process, but rather a social activity based on experiential, col-
laborative learning. Learning takes place in organizations and com-
munities; it is “situated,” “distributed,” changes rapidly, and is trans-
ferable across different settings. Learning is being developed through
the communities of learning; it represents a person’s relationship to
the world which surrounds him or her.
These principles form part of learning methodologies such as
the following: active learning based on practice and experience, in-
terdisciplinary projects, teaching in groups, learning through solv-
ing problems, empowerment, the authentic self-evaluation processes
of the teaching staff and the skills acquired, portfolio assessment etc.
For the implementation of all these, it is necessary that the educator
is considered as a partner, coordinator and promoter of the learning
process. This, in turn, highlights the importance of teacher in-ser-
vice training as a constant school-based process.
The organization of adult learning is not based on a central-
ized hierarchy. Rather, it is similar to an action network, which is
open to new methodologies and practices, and where learners par-
ticipate actively. The crucial nodes of adult networks are the local
society, the national central supervising body, the General Secre-
tariat for Adult Education, and the European Network on Adult
Education. These nodes are connected with the educational com-

munity, local societies, universities and research institutions.
The new structures or projects created by the GSAE could be
considered as local communities’ learning centers which offer differ-
ent LLL programs to adults. Their aim is to establish new locations
and relations of learning in different areas, thus bridging the gap
between non-formal, informal and formal learning. Moreover, they
aim at a reconceptualization of the school as a place of community
building capacity and sociability.
All the previous topologies constitute the new space of Life-
long Learning for adults. This space includes:
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Figure 1. The Space of Lifelong Learning
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Second Chance Schools

Second Chance Schools (SCS) constitute a program addressing
early school leavers, 18-30 years of age. Their aim is to facilitate the
social inclusion of young people, mainly unemployed, who have not
completed compulsory education. In Greece, the first SCSs were
created in 2001.Five SCSs have already been established and five
more will be functioning in 2003. It is estimated that twenty more

such schools will have been created by 2006.
Successful attendants of SCS are awarded lower secondary cer-
tificates. Attendants of SCS are provided with a lot more than a
certificate. They are also equipped with the skills to enable them to
meet the requirements of their future workplaces, and to proceed to
higher academic education. It becomes clear that SCSs are closely
connected to both the local labor market and universities.
Centers for Adults Learning

Centers for Adult Learning are open to all adults over 18 years
old whether they have finished compulsory education or not. They
offer projects concerning communication, information, and entre-
preneurship, among others. Nine centers will be functioning at the
beginning of 2003 and 18 Centers will have been created by 2006.
.
INDIVIDUAL
(schools)
COMMUNITY
(relations between individu-
als and organizations)
Figure 2. Learning in the Cities
Learning Cities / Regions in the Framework

of Lifelong Learning Policies
Learning regions/cities is a European project aimed at promot-
ing LLL in the local communities. I will address three points: The
“what,” the “why” and the “how” of the learning city.
Learning within the community involves both individual learn-

ing and community learning. The project incorporates diverse forms
of learning at school, work, and family. In this sense, learning is
viewed as a kind of social interaction and community activity, and,
as such, an element of everyday life.
Learning is at the center, but it develops other dimensions:
cultural creation, caring city, participating city, enterprising city,
thus, promoting the cities’ regeneration, citizens’ well being, social
cohesion and management of changes.
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Figure 3. The Learning City
“Learning City” is identified as a set of relations and links be-

tween educational establishments, adult learning institutions, work-
places, social services and decision-making bodies in the local, na-
tional and European level.
Participants in “learning city” act upon a plan with defined
targets, priorities, know-how, and participation. The main principles
of the “learning city” are: 1) partnership, 2) participation, and 3)
planning.
Three Greek cities participate in the program with the inten-

tion of extending it within a national network.
NATIONAL LINKS TO INTERNATIONAL LINKS TO

GOVERNMENT, OTHER OTHER ORGANIZATIONS
COMMUNITIES

PRIMARY AND
SECONDARY
EDUCATION

GOVERNMENT
UNIVERSITIES,
UNIVERSITIES,
COLLEGES,
COLLEGES,
TERTIARY
TERTIARY
EDUCATION
EDUCATION

ADULT EDUCATION
SPECIAL INTEREST
GROUPS, etc
Local Center
INDUSTRY,
BUSINESS AND
SOCIAL COMMERCE
SERVICES
& HEALTH
PROFESSIONAL
ASSOCIATIONS
Figure 4. An Integrated Lifelong Learning Community
Concluding, I would like to stress that, Lifelong Learning for

Adults is a precondition for citizens’ active participation in the for-
mation of the new age and in the shaping of their future. An active
citizen is one capable of learning to learn, doing, living with others
and developing oneself. In this sense, the acquisition of the capacity
to learn is no more than the acquisition of the capacity to create and
respond to social changes, and design social life.
References
Barton, D & Hamilton, M. 1998. Local Literacies: Reading and Writing
in One Community. Routledge.
Beck, U.1992. The Risk Society. London: Sage.
Castells, M. 1996. The Rise of the Network Society. Cambridge, Mass.:
Blackwell.
Doukas, Ch. 2001. The New Space of Lifelong Learning. Work Relations
Review, October 2001.
Eade J. 1997. Living the Global City: Globalization as Local Process. Lon-
don: Routledge.
European Commission. 1995. Teaching and Learning: Towards the Learning
Society, Brussels: European Community.
General Secretariat for Adult Education. National Dialogue for Lifelong
Learning. www.lifelonglearning.gr.
Giddens, A. 1990. Consequences of Modernity. Cambridge: Polity.
Harvey, D. 1989. The Conditioon of Postmodernity. Blackwell.
Lankshear and Knobel. 1999. “The new literacy studies and the study of
new literacies,” Paper presented at the seminar Literacies Amidst Glo-
bal Transformation: Workplace and Community Literacies, University
of Wisconsin, Madison.
King, A. D. 1996. Re-presenting the City: Ethnicity, Capital and Culture in
the 21st Century Metropolis. New York: New York University Press.
Latour, B. 1996. We Have Never Been Modern, New York, London: Har-
vester Wheatsheaf.
New London Group. 2000. Multiliteracies: Literacy Learning and the
Design of Social Future. Routledge.
PoLLIis : www.imfegranada/prog-europa/leonardo/pollis
Senge, P.M. 1991. The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learn-
ing Organization. New York: Doubleday.
TELS: Towards a European learning Society: www.Eulearn.net.
Lifelong Learning: Seeking Constants
for Changing Societies
Evangelos Intzidis*
T he concept of lifelong learning (LLL) is connected with the

exemption of the citizen from restrictions due to his/her lack of
education in those skills that the new economic activities of the in-
formation and knowledge society require. The new approach of LLL
presupposes the development of programs of new basic skills—espe-
cially in information technologies—and the upgrading of qualifica-
tions for the expansion of employment opportunities through the
movement not only of European citizens but also of economic im-
migrants in European Union.
And that is where we come across certain difficulties. The citi-
zens do not seem to recognize, within existing social institutions,
e.g. the formal education, the new role they are summoned to play
in the information and knowledge society, as there has been no al-
ternative arrangements so that the chasm between compulsory work
*Educational Linguist, Greece.

and free time is lifted. Therefore, the vision of social integration of

Europe through LLL is not yet regarded as a convincing solution to
the daily problems of the European citizens, having as a result the
retreat to old dogmatisms—e.g., nationalism, and phenomena of
social pathogeny—e.g. xenophobia, which enhance passivity and stag-
nation of citizens, especially of the young and others who are in
danger of social exclusion.
But why can citizens not recognize their new role in the given
organizational frameworks whether they concern work or education?
A first testimony is connected with increasing interdependence of
national economies resulting to networks of a unified global economy.
Moreover, the creation of an interdependent network of national
economies proclaims the recognition of knowledge as a basic eco-
nomic resource. The transformation of specific economic relations
through knowledge and technology has an impact on the spectrum
of social interaction as well. According to A. Giddens (1990), social
relationships are structured not only by the position of citizens within
the system of power allocation of a certain local community but are
constantly structured through the relations of the local community
with the global community as communication and information tech-
nologies, not only in the service of the economic activities, define a
new, virtual dimension of space and time. Through these processes
of “disembeddedness,” or deframing of social relationships from the
specific space-time frameworks, globalization highlights a constantly
changing field of activities beyond national borders. The institu-
tional allocation of power is constantly redesigned as the intercon-
nections of local centers of power through supranational negotia-
tions transform traditional relations between the center and periph-
ery.
Every time that the ways of belonging and associating in rela-
tion to the others change, so do practices at home, society and work.
Aspects of individual identity are multiplied as well as the modes of
social integration. The new information and communication tech-
LIFELONG LEARNING: SEEKING CONSTANTS FOR CHANGING SOCIETIES / E. INTZIDIS 39
nologies allow us to learn anytime, from knowledge sources any-

where in the world and gain an overview of our relationships and
ourselves in different settings (Giddens 1990). Fish (1980) argues
that in every society, in any given time, there coexist several inter-
pretative communities, which are made up of individuals who mu-
tually share certain interpretative strategies. The particular location
of interpretative communities within the institutional allocation of
power, and the potential of anyone to move through different social
groups or interpretative communities, explains the different or even
contradictory “interpretations” of reality.
But multiple identities, given the diverse ways of participation
of the working citizen in different interpretative communities and
networks, have an impact also on his/her communication practices,
the practices of production and negotiation of meaning, resulting
each time to a different constitution of values and beliefs, the trans-
formation of the solid identity into a variable one in relation to chang-
ing cultural and social contexts.
Such a thing presupposes that the citizens have developed the
capacity for critical reflection, so that they can perceive the processes
of constant reframings of their actions, as well as their consequences.
This prerequisite places learning at the core of every social interac-
tion and within the constant differentiation of a single world, learn-
ing constitutes a solid value, a common feature of new identities.
It seems that LLL gains an educational value, a new ideal of
values. As this new educational ideal is associated, at the level of
practice, with policies of challenging social exclusion, we can say
that LLL, constitutes a radical need, the satisfaction of which pre-
supposes new institutional frameworks.
Approaches of the LLL policies

Learning, or the cultivation of commitment towards learning
in particular, comes into focus as a prerequisite of survival. As we
inhabit an ever-changing world, we belong to “risk societies.” Orga-

nizations, communities and individuals continue to confront uncer-
tainties; they need to think about modes of intervention towards
changes, and negotiate and administer the knowledge they have ac-
quired so as to meet these changes. This is what brings forward LLL
as a structural feature of the societies of the late modernity (Beck
1986).
If LLL constitutes a new value, which is interpreted as a radi-
cal need of the contemporary societies, with an emphasis placed on
the social groups that are in danger of social exclusion, then there
exist substantial consequences on political designs or the develop-
ment of programs, which presuppose an analysis of the new social
formation, the definition of order and hierarchy within institutions,
and individual capabilities required for survival and social integra-
tion.
Political designs, corresponding to the level of development of
the local communities, highlight a modernized policy, whose main
characteristic is either the additive creation and development of in-
stitutions and institutes of education for everyone, or the
destructuring of lined up, “chain” systems of schools and institutes
of adult education with parallel enhancement of learning, beyond
the traditional institutions. The “shift” from education to learning
emphasizes “learning how to learn” and promotes those personal
characteristics of the trainees that are required for their further learn-
ing, including their motivation and capacity to get occupied with
autonomous, self-administered, independent learning.
The concept of LLL is promoted as a critical and alternative
solution to traditional educational philosophies. Many times though,
while political designs of LLL suggest that educational opportuni-
ties should expand throughout the lifespan of people, in reality what
they virtually mean is the prolongation of formal education. Never-
theless, LLL as a framework for educational reform must be a con-
stant procedure, which integrates non-formal and informal learning
into an abundance of life practices at home, at work and in society.

The new European social model seems to be the model of
multiple LLL opportunities and reinforces the contribution of all
the social partners towards the promotion of opportunities of learn-
ing, creativity and employability.
We have to clarify though, that for citizens engaged in lifelong
learning, the employability problem is also connected with the cul-
tivation of the capacity to introduce innovations into the social and
working place, in the public and private lives of European citizens.
Especially today, through the immediate interconnection of
the national economies and their consequent establishment into su-
pernational systems of economic activity, civilization is not only re-
lated to employability but also to how the cultural subsystems are
located in space, and time—more specifically, how space is defined
in relation to center-periphery, centralized authority-decentralized
autonomy, and how time is defined by new communication and
information environment.
Lifelong Learning: Shifting from the Dominant

Order/Rule to Constant Diversity
Technological innovations and transnationalization of the local
economies take place with the parallel transformation of the social
relations. We experience the diversity of our societies either at the
level of the multilingual and multicultural communication in pub-
lic space or at the level of the particular relations in our private life.
To make our communication and relations functional, we need
to develop such skills that allow the contemporary citizen: a) to ac-
cept and appreciate diversity, b) to creatively take advantage of his or
her diverse social settings, and c) to depict and apply this experience
of diversity in his/her daily life practices.
To confront the danger of social exclusion, we are summoned
to connect promptly and effectively democracy with diversity, cre-
ative participation of the citizen with technological innovation, and

his/her active involvement with the local and hyperlocal being. We
need programs for lifelong learning that reflect contemporary reali-
ties.
So as to design such programs and to improve contemporary
lifelong learning, we need to answer the following questions:
• Through which policies can relations of empowerment be devel-
oped among the citizens during lifelong learning?
• How is the European dimension and its connection to the move-
ment of citizens within the European Union reflected, taking
into consideration the various social, cultural and economic re-
alities among the European Union members?
Lifelong learning is directly associated with new economies in
the era of globalization and is shadowed by them (Rifkin 1999) as
the verification of qualifications for the free movement of the work-
men, either virtually or factually, is considered to be a priority. On
the other hand, recognition of informal learning which has been
acquired through critical reflection on the gained social and working
experience, is the core of all those LLL policies that attempt to solve
partly the consequences of the lack of qualifications of human labor,
and partly to reduce the cost of lifelong learning education and train-
ing—mainly of those groups who move/migrate from developing to
developed countries.
The different interpretations of LLL as seen through political
reformative designs of education and training systems, are connected
with different political choices. Lifelong learning, therefore, some-
times triggers off political reformative designs for the continuous
provision of educational opportunities in the form of “correctional”
interventions, while some other times, it triggers off reforms that
attempt to raise the distinction between the formal educational sys-
tem and the workplace.
In the first case, political designs identify LLL as a constant
provision of opportunities for the reintegration of adults within the
formal educational system or the curricula for adults in Higher Edu-

cation. More specifically, the association of LLL with “correctional”
education for adults who were not able to complete their basic edu-
cation when they were young, is focused on the adoption of policies
of compulsory education and adult education. It is a “school-cen-
tered” policy, whose priority is the acquisition of basic skills as they
are described in the curricula of compulsory education. The correc-
tional educational policy—differentiated from the concept of “per-
manent education” of the Council of Europe, according to which
the focus is placed on socio-cultural aspects of learning—is charac-
terized by hierarchical curricula where each one constitutes the pre-
requisite of the next one, while at the same time there is a correspon-
dence with the verification procedures of the formal educational sys-
tem.
However, the different approaches of LLL have certain charac-
teristics in common, such as the belief in the value of education and
learning themselves, the common belief in the need for global access
to learning opportunities, and the recognition of the importance of
non-formal education in differentiated contexts. In fact, people learn
things beyond school classrooms—at work, by speaking with oth-
ers, by watching TV and generally by participating in any kind of
human activity. As A. Hasan (1996) notes, LLL is different from the
other more traditional learning approaches as it recognizes the mul-
tiplicity of the means and methods of teaching, focusing on “learn-
ing how to learn.”
Initially, we realize that the concept of innovation includes those
non-violent policies, according to which the citizen acts, takes ini-
tiatives, converses, seeks for the wider possible consensus, causes re-
actions, undertakes his/her shared responsibility for the results of
his/her action. Through his/her action, the citizen participates in
his/her local community under certain terms of political engage-
ment. Therefore, LLL as a concept that guarantees supplementarity
and adjustment, and as a social policy aimed at the undertaking of
initiatives and bringing out the redemptional force that the innova-
tive action of the citizens has, is not associated with policies of pure
administration. (Smith & Spurling 2001)
Lifelong learning is connected with beliefs that regard each
educational system as well as the suggested learning methodolo-
gies as political events. In this perspective, LLL does not constitute
a single and undifferentiated policy, since communication prac-
tices in the politically expanded workplace make us talk about dif-
ferentiated cultural identities, attitudes, and cultures, and conse-
quently about LLL procedures, which correspond to multiple life-
long educational activities. These multiple educational activities
follow, on the one hand, the firmly increasing demand, generally
speaking, for new production capabilities of the young and the
adult population within the prolonged and the several qualitative
learning cycles of human life, and on the other hand, the multi-
plicity of the educational factors, since new demands come about
concerning the gradually enriched role of the educator/teacher and
his/her need for his/her multilevel specialization.
The emergence of learning procedures is the result of the social
conflicts that lead us to new cultural and educational situations such
as: 1) the active role of citizens in society through volunteer organi-
zations which deepens the concept of democracy, 2) the research
into the new cultural identity in relation to gender-based discrimi-
nations, and 3) the crisis in the employment sector in relation to
issues of time-use beyond workplace, due to the introduction of new
production technologies.
The LLL procedures do not imply a unique, exclusive learning
and educational prototype. They constitute an empirical reality for
the active citizen. However, in the era of the latter modernity, it is
more essential than ever, that these procedures be described analyti-
cally and registered in the body of the social institutions. It is worth
noting that the social experience of learning claims quite emphati-
cally, for the first time, its political registration, that is, it is the first
time that in the contemporary history of European policies, the ac-

tual experience becomes a political entity in contrast to the institu-
tional designs of the past. Therefore, it may be said that LLL de-
mands constantly redesigned institutions, a fact that changes our
current perception of legal procedures within the institutional struc-
tures of governmental network.
As it is known, the three aspects of the social co-existence of
citizens—work, social interaction and social roles of the institutional
allocation of power—correspond to the aspect of knowledge as a tool
of learning, to the practical knowledge of communication, and to
the redemptive knowledge which enables the citizen to control and
administer his/her surroundings through technology, and compre-
hend the mutual intentions of cross-subjective interaction and the
social restrictions that define it. (Habermas 1981).
According to certain political designs, LLL concerns the proce-
dures of knowledge evolution, its comprehension, that the citizens
of a society will communicate freely without the intervention of in-
terior and exterior enforcement. Within the framework of these de-
signs, LLL recognizes that each citizen has diverse knowledge and
skills which ensure its redemption from the conventional limits of
formal education, so that communicative reasoning can get rid of
those mechanisms that produce distorted communication.
What will enable us to distinguish formal learning from the
informal and the non-formal ones?
Formal learning is achieved based on predesigned activities,
accompanied by explicit and implicit expectations on the part of the
teachers. Informal learning concerns the organization of activities
towards simultaneous acquisition and application of skills through
recurrent, organized experience, while non-formal learning takes
places without consciously predesigned activities; it is based on the
exposure of the citizen into a diversity of experiences.
Therefore, LLL concerns both the application of the new tech-
nologies in the formal, informal and non-formal learning systems,
and the personal development of citizens, so that the social evolu-

tion of societies also reflect on the identity of the citizen and the
worker. That is the reason why basic knowledge is associated with all
the observable fields that allow the citizen to comprehend all the
key issues of the contemporary society, issues that are assimilated in
all the social learning environments.
On the other hand, we cannot ignore the fact that the political
designs for LLL silence the contrasts that have arisen through the
“neutrality” of technical problems and the “solution” that they pre-
suppose. In the following excerpt from Habermas (1990,165-166),
this practice of silence becomes clear:
Instead of the dormant class conflict—even if we
ignore the conflicts because of the inequalities in
the margins of the system—it is possible nowadays
that a new zone of conflicts can be created. Some-
thing that is not possible only there, where post-
capitalist society seeks, through the de-
politicalization of the masses, to prevent exactly that,
the doubting of the technocratic ideology: that is,
the system of public opinion administration through
the mass means of communication. […] The defi-
nitions, which are publicly permutable, refer to what
we want in our life, but not to how we would like
to live, if we conclude as to how we could really
live, based on the feasible potentialities.
The “new work order” creates but is also reinforced by a “new

word order.” As it is noted by the members of the New London
Group,
Different attitudes on education and society lead to
quite specialized structures of curricula, political
designs of action, which in turn include designs for
social future events […]. The available designs in-
clude the “literacies” of a diversity of semiotic sys-
tems—language literacies, and the literacies of other
semiotic systems such as film, photography, dia-

grams, etc. The available designs also consist of
“word order,” structured symbols of convention,
related to the semiotic activity, a specific institu-
tion or a workplace. These conventions constitute
the substance of cultural and social cross-influence.
(2000, 20-21)
Between the knowledge society and the society of work, new

practices of speech, social institutions, politico-economic designs and
correlation of power intermediate, presuppose that the individuals
assimilate several cosmo-theories, and the different ways of belong-
ing. Each discourse is made up by the way we speak, listen, read,
write, act, interact, believe, place values and use tools and objects in
certain environments and within specific time limits, so that a cer-
tain social identity emerges or is recognized.
Discourse creates social positions (or perspectives) through
which people are called to speak, listen, act, read and write, think,
feel, believe and place value on certain characteristics, in historically
recognizable ways, in combination with their individual style and
creativity. Every discourse knits up complicated relations of com-
plicity, synergy, tension and conflict with other discourses. In other
words: Discourses create, produce, and reproduce opportunities for
the individuals to exist and distinguish certain kinds of people. We
are all capable of existing within different Discourses in different
ways” (Gee, Hull & Lankshear, 1996).
What comes into focus is not finding the right answers but
asking the right questions.
References
Beck, U. 1986. Risikogesellschaft. Auf dem Weg in eine andere Moderne.
Frankfurt (Ì): Suhrkamp.
Fish, St.1980. Is There a Text in this Class? The Authority of Iterpretive
Communities. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Gee, J.P., G. Hull & C. Lankshear. 1996. The New Work Order. Behind
the Language of the New Capitalism. Allen & Unwinn and Westview
Press.
Giddens, A. 1990. The Consequences of Modernity. Stanford: Stanford
University Press.
_________. 1991. Modernity and Self-Identity. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Habermas, J. 1981. Theorie des Kommunikativen Handelns. Suhrkamp.
________. 1990. Essays of Knowledge Theory and Social Criticism [Keimena
Gnosiotheorias kai Koinonikis Kritikis] Transl. Á. Oikonomou.
Athens: Plethron.
Hasan, A.1996. Lifelong Learning. International Encyclopedia of Adult
Education and Training. A.C. Ôuijnman. Åxeter: Pergamon Press.
Lankshear, C. 1997. “Language and the New Capitalism,” The Interna-
tional Journal of Inclusive Education 1 (4): 310-345.
New London Group. 2000. “A Pedagogy of Multiliteracies. Designing
Social Futures,” Multiliteracies. Literacy Learning and the Design of
Social Futures. Â. Cope & M. Kalantzis. Routledge.
Rifkin, J. 1999. The Age of Access. New York: Penguin, Putnam.
Smith, J. & A. Spurling. 2001. Understanding Motivation for Lifelong
Learning. NIACE.
r
Facing the Challenges of
EFA in Europe
Reviewing EFA Goals
in Europe
John Daniel*
Background
T he international commitment to Education for All (EFA) goes

back to the UNESCO constitution of 1945 which said that
the States that were parties to it believed in “full and equal opportu-
nities for education for all, in the unrestricted pursuit of objective
truth, and in the free exchange of ideas and knowledge.” The Cold
War began shortly after that and then the energies of most develop-
ing countries were devoted to the processes of decolonization. It was
not really until 1990, at the World Conference on Education for All
held in Jomtien, Thailand, that the world as a whole turned its at-
tention again to educating all the people of the world. At that con-
ference it became clear that education for all was far from being a
reality across the world. The conference set a series of targets for
achieving that goal.
*Assistant Director-General, UNESCO.

The international community returned to the challenge at the

World Education Forum held in Dakar, Senegal in 2000, having
commissioned country-by-country assessments of the degree to
which education for all had been achieved. The overall picture was
still disappointing. On the one hand, countries had not made the
educational progress that had been hoped for. On the other hand,
partly because rich countries thought that they could pay them-
selves a peace dividend at the end of the Cold War, their funds for
international development assistance, including education, fell sharply
over the 1990s. The Dakar Forum not only restated six goals of EFA,
but also developed a twelve-point strategy for achieving them called
the Dakar Framework for Action. It called upon many partners to
take action. First and foremost, there are the countries themselves,
both governments and civil society. Then, there are the rich coun-
tries that give funds for educational development around the world,
and finally, there are the international agencies.
At Dakar, UNESCO was given the task of coordinating the
efforts of all these layers. In fulfilling this mandate, one of its tasks is
to convene annually a High-Level Group, made up of senior repre-
sentatives of the four stakeholder groups, in order to maintain the
political momentum of the EFA movement. The High-Level Group
bases its recommendations on an annual EFA Monitoring Report.
The 2002 Monitoring Report on Education for All: Meeting Our
Collective Commitments, has just been completed. It is the most
comprehensive analysis of the state of the EFA movement than we
have had since Dakar and is a most impressive document. It is also a
long document based on very thorough analysis.
The Goals of EFA

Before I try and summarize the key features of the Monitor-
ing Report let me recall the way the Dakar Forum articulated the
goals of Education for All and make a comment on the scope of the
REVIEWING EFA GOALS / J. DANIEL 53
movement. Over 160 countries were represented at Dakar and they

set six goals. I find it helpful to remember with the acronym GET
EQUAL.
The first target concerns girls and gender. The goal is to elimi-
nate gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005
and achieve gender quality by 2015—with a special focus on ensur-
ing full and equal access for girls to basic education of good quality.
E is for elementary or primary education, where the deadline is
to ensure that by 2015 all children, especially girls, children in diffi-
cult circumstances, and from ethnic minorities have access to and
complete free and compulsory primary education of good quality.
T is for training, to ensure that the learning needs of all young
people are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and
life skills programmes.
The next E is for early childhood. The goal is to expand and
improve comprehensive early childhood care and education, espe-
cially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.
QU stands for quality, without which all the rest is pointless.
The Dakar Forum charged us to improve all aspects of the quality of
education to achieve recognized and measurable learning outcomes
for all—especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills.
Finally, AL stands for Adult Literacy, the challenge of achiev-
ing a 50 percent improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015,
especially for women, as well as equitable access to basic and con-
tinuing education for adults.
So there are three quantitative targets with deadlines and three
that are qualitative. At this meeting, I expect that you are particu-
larly interested in the targets related to literacy, continuing educa-
tion, life skills and quality.
What is the scope of the EFA movement? I mean by that, which
countries does it cover? There is an ambiguity here, which this year’s
Monitoring Report flags as an issue requiring attention. The under-
standing of most people in Dakar was that EFA is a worldwide move-
ment.
In the run up to Dakar nearly all countries provided assess-
ments of the extent to which EFA was a reality for them. However,
most OECD countries did not give data for literacy even though
there are very few countries that are satisfied with the extent of adult
literacy. Many are asking questions about the adequacy of life skills
training—and indeed are asking what life skills are required in the
21st century. Furthermore, I am not aware of any country that is
fully confident of the quality of the education that its people receive.
In this context, let me quote from the EFA Monitoring Re-
port:
Since the Jomtien World Conference in 1990 there
has been some ambiguity as to whether EFA under-
pins a global Education for All movement or whether
it is primarily a vehicle for focusing on developing
countries, where the challenge of enabling the poor-
est and most severely disadvantaged people to ben-
efit from a basic education is the priority. The bal-
ance has moved more towards the latter than the
former position, and has been accentuated by the
very strong international focus on Universal Primary
Education...
Nevertheless, many of the challenges of EFA extend well be-

yond developing countries. The educational needs of those living in
relative poverty in industrialized societies; questions of quality and
relevance, of gender equality, of literacies responsive to the revolu-
tion in communication technology; and the challenge for education
provided by the risks of drugs dependency are just some of the ma-
jor issues deserving a wider, global treatment. If EFA is treated as an
issue specific to particular countries and regions of the world, it
runs the danger of becoming partial, and perhaps more marginal,
rather than a central educational priority worldwide. The EFA Glo-
bal Monitoring Report will begin to address this concern from 2003.
Main Findings of the 2002 EFA Monitoring Report

That quotation from the EFA Monitoring Report sets the con-
text very well. What I want to do now is to give you the general
conclusions of the report for EFA as a whole and then give you some
of its findings in the areas of literacy. I shall also include some data
on these issues provided by my colleagues at the UNESCO Institute
of Education(UIE). Finally, I shall comment on the situation in Eu-
rope. The best way of giving you the general conclusions of the
Monitoring Report on the state of play of EFA in 2002 is to quote
directly from the document itself:
This report has shown that progress towards the six
Dakar goals is insufficient: the world is not on track
to achieve education for all by 2015. This judge-
ment is based on a number of strands of evidence.
…Three of the goals—universal primary education,
gender equality and literacy—can presently be
monitored quantitatively. Only 83 countries (ac-
counting for just over one-third of the world’s popu-
lation) have already achieved the three goals or have
a high chance of doing so by 2015 on the basis of
recent trends. In 43 countries (with 37 percent of
the world’s population), at least one goal is likely to
be missed, while a further 28 countries (with 28
percent of the world’s population) are not on track
to achieve any of them. Two thirds of those in the
latter category are in sub-Saharan Africa, but they
also include India and Pakistan.
Of the three goals, literacy most frequently risks not being met:
at present rate of progress, 79 countries will not be able to halve
their rate of adult illiteracy by 2015. Universal primary education is
unlikely to be reached in 57 countries, 41 of which have recently
been moving in the wrong direction. The position is slightly better
as regards the gender goals, with 86 countries having already achieved
gender parity in primary enrolments, and a further 35 countries
being close to doing so.

As you can see, it is not an encouraging picture, but let us look
in a little more detail and focus on literacy. In trying to summarize
the results for each of the Dakar goals, the authors of the Monitor-
ing Report have devised a system of quadrants using two dimen-
sions, one static and one dynamic. The static dimension is the dis-
tance that a country was from a particular Dakar goal in 2000,
whether close to it or farther away. The dynamic dimension is the
change between 1990 and 2000, whether a country is moving to-
wards the goal or away from it. This gives four boxes. Two boxes
show countries that are close to the Dakar goal. In one box are the
countries where the indicators went backwards between 1990 and
2000, suggesting that the goal will not be reached, in the other box
are countries, which progressed between 1990 and 2000 and have a
high chance of achieving the goal.
Two other boxes show countries that are far from the goal. Those
that are moving away from it are, of course, very unlikely to meet the
goal without drastic change. Those that are moving towards it are
unlikely to meet it because the gap is too large to close in time. In
Europe, the following countries have achieved the goal of adult lit-
eracy, defined as 95 percent literacy or higher: Belarus, Bulgaria,
Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania,
Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovenia, Spain and
Ukraine.
Here are selected results from around the world and all the
results that are available for Europe. The problem is that there is no
data for most of the OECD countries. Three European countries,
Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina and Portugal are likely to reach the
literacy goal whereas Malta, although having relatively high literacy,
has been regressing rather then progressing in recent years.
For Gender Parity, which is the Dakar goal with the earliest
deadline, it is not an encouraging picture either. Here the static
measure is the Gender Parity Index (GPI) in 2000. Those more than
10 percent away from unity, either because of a higher proportion of

boys or a higher proportion of girls, are considered far away. Finally,
as far as this general data is concerned, the authors of the EFA Moni-
toring Report have put together a composite index for the three
Dakar goals where we have quantitative measurements: primary edu-
cation, literacy and gender parity. First, there are the results for the
E9 countries, which include nearly half the world’s population and
more the half the world’s illiterate adults. There are the results for
Central and Eastern Europe, which are more encouraging, and for
Western Europe and North America. The picture becomes less rosy,
but still encouraging in Latin American and the Caribbean. When
you move to the Arab states and North Africa there is a bunching of
states in the ‘insufficient progress’ column, whereas further south in
sub-Saharan Africa we see where the world’s educational challenge
really is, with a majority of states at serious risk of not achieving
education for all without drastic changes to their present trajecto-
ries.
Comments and Recommendations

Recent data in some Western European countries show an in-
crease in functional illiteracy not only among the migrant popula-
tion but also among non-migrant population.
The first international adult literacy survey (IALS) conducted
in 1994 covered seven countries in this region: Canada, Germany,
The Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.
The research teams drew the following conclusions. First, there are
important differences in literacy skills across and within nations.
Second, deficits of literacy skill are found not just among marginalized
groups, but affect large proportions of the entire adult population.
Third, literacy is not synonymous with educational attainment.
Fourth, literacy skills are maintained and strengthened through regu-
lar use. Even more recently, the results of the Program of Interna-
tional Student Assessment (PISA) jolted many western countries out
of their complacency when they found that their scores and rankings
did not match their national self-image. One such country was the
United States, where George Bush was heard to remark that “average
was not good enough for American children.”
In that country a survey sought to answer the question, “How
many Americans lack the foundation of basic skills and education
they need?” Three categories of workers were found to be lacking in
certain basic skills. First, the language-challenged group includes
immigrants who have limited speaking skills in English and who
account for roughly five percent of the adult population. Second,
the educational credential-challenged group includes native-born
and immigrant adult who speak English proficiently but who dropped
out of school before achieving a high school credential. Seventeen
percent of adult Americans are estimated to fall in this group. Fi-
nally, there is the new literacy-challenged group, which includes
adults who speak English proficiently and have a high school cre-
dential but whose basic life skills are generally considered insuffi-
cient for the workplace of today. Twenty percent of Americans are
considered part of this category. The sum of all these percentages
shows that almost 42 percent of adult Americans lack some of the
basic skills considered necessary for 21st century living.
So where do we go from here? In the world generally, and also
in Europe, we clearly have a way to go before education for all will
be a reality. This is an action-oriented conference so let me be con-
crete. Next week, the EFA High-Level group will meet in Abuja,
Nigeria. We have asked the Bulgarian Minister of Education to present
the situation and recommendations from Europe. So I ask you to
bring to the plenary sessions and workshops examples of your good
practices as well as concrete suggestions for the implementation of
EFA in this region.
Last month, the UN General Assembly approved the Interna-
tional Plan of Action for the UN Literacy Decade, which will be
launched in two months time. I encourage you to read the UN Reso-
lutions approving the Literacy Decade and its plan of action and
take it back to your organizations. Please disseminate and discuss
this information with stakeholders in your country and see how you
can use the Literacy Decade to further the goals of EFA. Finally, let
us remind ourselves again why we are doing this.
Education for all is important for three reasons. First, educa-
tion is a right. Second, education enhances individual freedom. Third,
education yields important development benefits.
The EFA Monitoring Report summarizes it as follows:
The intrinsic human value of education—its abil-
ity to add meaning and value to everyone’s lives
without discrimination—is at the core of its status
as a human right. But education is also an indis-
pensable means to unlock and protect other human
rights. It provides some of the scaffolding necessary
for the achievement of the rights to good health,
liberty, security, economic well-being and partici-
pation in social and political activity. Where the
right to education is guaranteed, people’s access to
and enjoyment of other rights is enhanced and the
imbalances in life chances are lessened.
That, colleagues, is why we are holding this conference. I wish

you well in your important work.
Towards EFA Goals: Situation in
Latvia and Cooperation in the
Baltic Sea Region
Dace Neiburga*
I would like to share with you some aspects of the EFA planning
process in our country.
First of all, when thinking of the national level, I believe that
our main focus in terms of the Dakar Framework for Action is not
producing a separate new policy documents, as we have already many
papers that are not operational.
I can assure you, however, that the political commitment to
prepare the National EFA Plan and to attain the EFA global goals by
2015 gave us an excellent starting point to bring all the interested
parties together to evaluate and improve the situation in education
in general. Moreover, it provoked different stakeholders to look at
education as an integrated and intersectoral field.
*Secretary-General,Latvian National Commission for UNESCO.

When launching the EFA planning process at national level

and examining the existing legal framework, resources and mecha-
nisms working in education, we came to the conclusion that our
main challenge towards EFA goals is not the question of what to do,
but how to do it.
As a small country with limited natural resources, Latvia sees
its human capital as an important asset, while facing the eventual
accession to the European Union and competition in the global
economy. That is why, since regaining independence in 1991, in
the last decade, different governmental institutions have prepared
and have been implementing several normative and strategic docu-
ments on human resource development, many aspects of which largely
affect education. These include:
• national development program,
• poverty reduction program,
• crime reduction program,
• law on Education,
• separate laws on general education, on vocational and profes-
sional education, on higher education, as well as strategic
programs for education development,
• state program on the protection of the rights of children,
• state concept on youth policy, and
• state program on youth policy etc.
Nevertheless, while Latvia has developed impressive concepts
and strategies, and has considerably amended its legal framework,
the country faces problems with actual implementation due to the
instability of national leadership, and weak coordination among
sectors. The Review of Education Policy in Latvia undertaken by
OECD in 2001 concludes
...that institutions and sectors of Latvia’s education
system remain isolated from each other. Education
TOWARDS EFA GOALS: SITUATION IN LATVIA... / D. NEIBURGA 63
policy is coordinated only in an indirect way with

other social policy and services that directly affect
the education of children, youth and adults. The
problems concerning the health of children and fami-
lies, the health and status of women, and strategies
to increase the literacy and labour market skill of
the adult population are inextricably linked to edu-
cation, but the contacts between social and educa-
tional policy are few and the links are weak.
This is the reason why we mostly focus on EFA planning as a

process of networking, partnership building and conceptual discus-
sions, which we consider as a value by itself. I have to admit that we
still have more questions than solutions in meeting the challenges
set by the EFA global movement.
We can identify three general fields we have been working on:
1) Partnership building and networking at the national level,
2) Advocacy and communication, and
3) Participation in regional and subregional networks
Partnership building and networking at the national level

As previously mentioned, partners’ mobilization and partner-
ship building have been considered and developed as a major line of
activities towards the EFA goals on the national scale.
As the Latvian National Commission for UNESCO has some
experience and capacity to promote intersectoral cooperation, it served
as the driving force in the management of this process from the very
start. Using the human resource potential of the Education Com-
mittee of the National Commission, several bilateral and multilat-
eral meetings have been organized to discuss perspectives and mod-
els of the EFA organizational structure in Latvia.
We used the global EFA Week to hold a National Round Table
discussion where a general agreement was reached among all stake-
holders that the establishment of National EFA Forum would be a
relevant mechanism to promote cooperation and coordinated activi-

ties between ministries, other national and local government insti-
tutions, the private sector, as well as non-governmental and interna-
tional organizations for the aims set by the World Education Forum.
I would like to share with you some of the issues and concerns
which we put forth for a broad public debate:
• How to ensure sustainability and continuity of the Forum,
not to leave it at the stage of a short-term project;
• How to make the Forum as inclusive as possible, encompass-
ing the main sectors and dimensions of education and involv-
ing all interested parties on the one hand, and on the other
hand, how to organize its work constructively, to make it a
body capable of reacting quickly to new challenges and prob-
lems in education and giving a real input to policy making;
• How to give the Forum a strong enough mandate to promote
coherent and coordinated activities among multiple initia-
tives developing across the country and how to make its voice
heard and taken into account by high level decision makers;
• How to specify the scope of the Forum’s activities and how to
focus on the priorities instead of dealing with all the prob-
lems of education and human resource development; and
• Whether international agencies or missions in the structure
of the EFA Forum should play the role of equal members of
the Forum or serve in the capacity as adviser and donor.
As a result of the public discussion, we gained many ideas on
how to go ahead. To summarize the recommendations given, we
established an expert group that, after several consultations, worked
out an optimal model of the National EFA Forum in Latvia, which is
likely to be adopted by the Council of Ministers as Rules on the
Establishment of the National EFA Forum.
The current project includes the following items:
1) Definition of the National EFA Forum;
2) Main goals and objectives of the Forum in Latvia;

3) Functions and competencies of the Forum;
4) Membership and organizational structure of the Forum; and
5) Decision-making procedure in the Forum.
As an overall mission of the National Forum is the building of
the knowledge society where access to quality education is provided
in lifelong learning perspective for all people, irrespective of age,
domicile, sex, ethnic affiliation, and income level.
The concrete priority areas for the Forum’s activities are as fol-
lows:
1) to promote the integration into society of vulnerable and
socially excluded groups by advancing options for many-sided
learning;
2) to expand the interaction between formal and informal life-
long learning with a view to promote people’s participation
in civil society and enhance their competitiveness in labor
market; and
3) to promote acquisition of literacy and the ability to use the
respective skills in accordance with the needs of individuals
and society.
I believe that we are on the right track to further develop the Na-
tional EFA partnership network and dialogue on the implementation of
EFA priorities in Latvia as these have already involved numerous major
partners, like the Chancellery of the State President, the State Chan-
cellery (at the Council of Ministers), the Ministry of Education and
Science, the Ministry of Welfare, UN agencies in Latvia related to the
EFA, the State Center for Protection of Child’s Rights, the Soros Foun-
dation-Latvia, the Society Integration Fund, the Latvian Academy of
Sciences, and the Latvian Adult Education Association.
The membership of the National EFA Forum embraces sectors
of public administration and independent experts who have the repu-
tation of being outstanding in the field, namely:
1) governmental institutions and local authorities having the

competence to take decision in the field of education;
2) NGOs and mostly their “umbrella” organizations which
provide education services or represent interests of learners
and educators; and
3) independent experts recommended by UN agencies and the
European Integration Bureau.
Strong cooperation has been developed between the Ministry
of Education and Science, and the Latvian National Commission for
UNESCO as they share responsibilities in managing and financing
the EFA planning process in Latvia.
Involvement of the UNDP Latvia and the UNICEF National
Committee is rather high; both participate in the consultation pro-
cess and finance some activities concerning EFA planning and advo-
cacy.
The EFA planning process is democratic and open to partici-
pation of civil society. I would like to underline that a particularly
strong partner is the Latvian Adult Education Association.
We have to admit there are still some weak points concerning
the partnership building and networking at the national level.
Weaknesses and challenges
• The mechanism for implementation of the EFA goals at the
grassroots level is still under a question mark. By now the
main focus in the EFA planning is on “macro” issues. How-
ever, we have to be aware that achieving EFA goals depends
not only on policies, coordination mechanisms or interna-
tional cooperation. It must be rooted in the realities of our
life; it should address the real problems through appropriate
EFA activities by involving families, educators, learners, and
mass media.
• There has been no involvement of high-level politicians and
parliamentarians as none of the invited parliamentarians re-
sponded to the invitation to take part in the public debate on

the EFA planning at national levels.
• We find it difficult to develop a more fruitful coordination
among ministries.
• The capacity of the Ministry of Education as an overall policy
leader and coordinator for education development in Latvia
is rather weak due to the frequent changes of ministers of
education and relatively low paid staff.
• The representation of learners, families and vulnerable groups
of society is not ensured in the consultation process on EFA
issues and perspectives.
Advocacy and Communication

The Latvian National Commission has been operating as a main
channel of information and communication on EFA issues by orga-
nizing mass media campaigns and taking part at conferences related
to education at the national and international levels. The most sig-
nificant documents of the EFA global movement, such as the Jomtien
World Declaration on Education for All, the Dakar Framework for
Action, and the Country Guidelines for the preparation of national
plans of action, have been translated into Latvian and presented and
explained to the wide spectrum of education specialists, state offi-
cials, as well as NGOs dealing with education issues. A special web
site on the EFA has been created and maintained within the official
web of the Ministry of Education and Science.
Being vice-president of the National Commission, the Minis-
ter of Education and Science has been actively taking part in the
process by giving official statements, initiating public discussions
and setting priorities and the agenda for EFA planning in Latvia.
The Commission has been involved in some advocacy with
policy makers and parliamentarians as well. Several meetings have
been held to emphasize and integrate EFA goals into the national
education policy documents.

Thus, the National Education Strategy for the next 5 years has
been worked out with orientation towards EFA goals and strategies.
The Strategy formulates the main principles for further develop-
ment of education, such as:
• Equal access to education in the perspective of lifelong learning;
• Equity and responding to changes in the development of
society and its socioeconomic situation;
• Participation of society in drafting and implementation of
education policy; and
• Principles of coordination to ensure a more integrated ap-
proach in education planning and management;
The Strategy states that the focus of attention will be the pro-
vision and improvement of primary education and the acquisition of
basic skills, the minority groups, and the vulnerable groups like people
with special needs. Disadvantaged families are considered to be the
main target group.
The status of teachers will be redefined and improved by elabo-
rating professional standards. New education and training programs
for teachers corresponding to the new education content will be elabo-
rated and implemented. Increase of teachers’ salaries will be ensured.
Improving education quality is defined as one of the principal
priorities of the strategy focusing on civic education, values educa-
tion etc. The use of ICT in the learning process will be developed.
Raising the efficiency of education costs is formulated as a fun-
damental approach in education development and management in
the next years.
We have also come forth with a suggestion to a newly adopted
law on the establishment of the Education Innovations Foundation
in Latvia that could become one of the EFA financing mechanisms.

• The question is still open concerning the relevant advocacy
tools for reaching the specific target groups, like high level
decision-makers and policymakers, or teachers, learners and
others.
• The interest in EFA issues of major daily newspapers and
national broadcasting companies is very low or sometimes
negative or sensational.
• There are many problems related to good quality data collec-
tion and in-depth policy analyses and research of one or an-
other EFA issues due to the well known fact that it is quite an
expensive process.
• There is also a challenge as to the concept of “basic educa-
tion,” the interpretation of which is too ambiguous. Up to
now Latvia’s legislation relates basic education to primary nine-
grade schooling. So the challenge for us is to change this for-
mal understanding to the one that sees basic education as an
integral part of a lifelong learning perspective. We have to
make it normative and subsequently operational. Also the
word All which is a part of EFA should be more focused on a
clear definition of EFA target groups. Understanding of life-
long learning as a core concept for all education and training
should be developed as well. Although enterprises and social
partners increasingly recognize the importance of human re-
source development, there is no clear understanding of the
potential contribution of continuing education for human
resource development.
Participation in regional and subregional networks

Latvia’s participation in the EFA regional and subregional net-
work is dominantly seen in the perspective of integration into the
European and the Baltic Sea region network. We also find useful
sharing of experience with the group of countries in transition after

the collapse of soviet regimes as we are facing similar problems in
reforming the educational system.
At the beginning of 2002, Latvia took the initiative to organize
a subregional EFA conference for the Baltic Sea countries to promote
the exchange of experience and knowledge, and to identify further
perspectives for co-operation in the Dakar Framework for Action.
The agenda of the conference focused on the following issues:
• deeper investigation of all six EFA goals to get a general feel-
ing on their relevance and focus in the Baltic Sea region;
• identification of ongoing projects and networks related to
EFA issues both at the intergovernmental level and the NGO
level;
• defining the way the Baltic Sea region could contribute to
development in the entire world; and
• and the mechanisms for further cooperation and coordina-
tion of EFA.
One of the issues under discussion was finding out the whether
there was a need for establishing a separate subregional EFA Forum.
Speaking about conceptual results, participants noted that the
EFA goals and the Dakar strategies “constitute relevant directions
for education development in each country, especially in regard to
education quality and to basic education as the necessary founda-
tion for life-long learning and social inclusion, assuring social cohe-
sion.”
As regards mechanisms there was a general agreement that us-
ing the potential of the existing mechanisms of cooperation is a way
to build partnerships and go ahead with some concrete activities in
pursuing the EFA goals in the subregion.
To facilitate coordination among the countries and other stake-
holders, an informal sub-regional EFA coordination working group
was set up.
As the meeting unanimously agreed on the necessity to come

up with concrete EFA activities—e.g., subregional pilot projects,
educational programs etc., the working group has asked the coun-
tries to identify some priority issues to initiate programs or activities
of common interest. Consultations are still going on, however we
can already point out some of the priorities articulated:
• Revising the teachers’ status and role vis-à-vis the new chal-
lenges brought by the EFA movement. New quality educa-
tion for all demands modernization of teacher training. Teacher
training for a sustainable future is given as one perspective
dimension. Development of teacher trainers-multiplicators’
network (preparing of the standards for multiplicators) is con-
sidered desirable.
• Issues of quality of education like education on human rights
and democracy, values education are addressed.
• Educational demands in rural areas and schools in rural areas
in particular, are issues of common concern.
Other Important concerns are:
• Adult education on health issues (not only on HIV/AIDS);
• Integration of special needs education;
• Common strategies in tackling poor basic skills;
• Informal education for youth;
• New legal and financial provisions ensuring favorable condi-
tions towards education for all in the context of life-long learn-
ing; and
• Coordination of EFA activities with the International Lit-
eracy Decade.

• One of our first challenges is the implementation of all these
nice ideas in reality.
• The scope of EFA funding is not quite clear and/or fully iden-
tified in the European region.
• The EFA European strategy, as well as a capable coordinat-
ing body in Europe, is still lacking. European intergovern-
mental institutions, like the Council of Europe and the Eu-
ropean Commission, have taken an unclear position towards
the EFA goals. Links between the European integration pro-
cess and the EFA regional strategy should be developed.
• Intensive advocacy and explanatory work with subregional
structures should be continued.
• The role of the UNESCO institutes regarding EFA should be
more specified and information on the planned regional and
subregional activities and pilot projects should be summa-
rized and submitted to the Member States.
In conclusion I would like to say that bridging the gaps con-
cerning the access and opportunities to provide education for all
people in Latvia is an essential precondition for modern civic society,
for accession to the European Union, and for full participation in
the global economy.
Reaching the Excluded for
Education for All
r
Marta Soler Gallart*
Introduction
I n the revision of the priorities for lifelong learning in the Euro-

pean region, we need to think seriously of how education reaches
all population. Today, Education for All (EFA) is a global concern,
which does not respond only to a matter of literacy or basic educa-
tion, but to ensuring that all people have equal opportunities to
learn and have access to quality free education to attain the require-
ments of a changing society. There are still many people and groups
in Europe that are excluded from education, and consequently, from
equal participation in civil society.
This paper will reflect on theories and practices that can help
us think about concrete actions towards the implementation of Edu-
cation For All goals in our region. First, I will make introductory
comments about the challenges of information society and the key
*Researcher, Center for Social and Educational Research, Univer-

sity of Barcelona
role of education. Second, I will develop five ideas regarding what

can be done in adult education to reach the excluded. I will draw
from different examples of projects that are being undertaken in Spain
and other European countries, that are based on dialogic learning. I
will highlight the importance of including the voices of these ex-
cluded people to be able to meet their needs and further their par-
ticipation in society.
New Educational Challenges Towards

Information Society for All
In the last thirty years, we have witnessed many accelerated
changes in our society that have important implications for educa-
tion and its role in the fight against social exclusion. Most of these
changes have been provoked by the technological revolution leading
to a transition from an industrial society in which the key to eco-
nomic growth was access to steel, coal and oil, to an information
society in which the key is the capacity to select and process infor-
mation. (Castells et al, 1999). New social changes have created new
social inequalities, which we must be addressed in the field of edu-
cation. We can distinguish two phases in the development of the
information society: the social dualization, which lasts from 1973 to
1995, and the information society for all, from 1995 until today
(Flecha, Gómez & Puigvert, 2003).
The first phase, social dualization, reflects a movement from
an industrial to an information society, a period in which we witness
the generation of many social changes. In the initial stages, there
was a selection among the people who could succeed in this new
society, which was explained through the concept of “social Darwin-
ism” (Habermas, 1987). On the one hand, new jobs were emerging
in the labor market related to processing information and to new
technologies in general. However, only an elite who had education
and the intellectual tools were able to take these opportunities quickly
and succeed. On the other hand, this society was also generating a
REACHING THE EXCLUDED FOR EDUCATION FOR ALL / M. GALLART 75
growth of precarious occupations and unemployment, resulting to

the marginalization of those who were not selected (i.e. those with
less resources or with little or no education). They would take the
job nobody wants to have and be part of the socially excluded.
At the beginning of the 21st century, an idea of “an informa-
tion society” for all is extended, giving way to the second phase of
the information society. There are two dynamics that promote the
evolution towards this phase: on the one hand, informational capi-
talism wants to reach new countries and sectors of society (i.e. groups
such as Bill Gates’ and Steve Case’s trying to introduce new prod-
ucts and services to new publics); on the other hand, pressure from
excluded countries and egalitarian social movements, create a de-
mand from civil society for an information society for all. As a result,
we can see new policies emerging with this objective of equality (i.e.
EU research policies1 ). Today there are numerous initiatives that
look for the ways of making these new ICT available to more people.
Today, diverse socially groups are already using the Internet to
communicate with other people from close and far away, and creat-
ing new spaces for dialogue through the web. Thus, the orientation
of new social policies of inclusion is to find ways of building this
information society for all. What are these ways? Is it enough to
increase access to computers and democratize technology? Access is
obviously important, but, it is also a matter of including all people
as participants and creators of this society. In order to fully reach
this inclusive knowledge society, lifelong learning for all is a key
factor worldwide. Furthermore, best practices are overcoming the
digital divide by promoting communicative practices through dia-
logue among people, children and adults, sharing learning spaces
altogether.
From Deficit Theories to Dialogic Learning

Deficit theories have directly influenced the creation of com-
pensatory educational models. While traditionally age and wisdom
used to be valued and respected in many societies, some researchers

started to study adult learning through tests that did not take into
account non-academic learning experiences, arriving to the conclu-
sion that “intelligence declines with age” (Wechsler, 1958). These
theories have had important consequences in the field of education,
creating ageist biases in society: still today many people with little
schooling say, “now I am too old for learning.” Adult education,
when understood as a place for people who did not attend or failed
school during their childhood, becomes a remedial model of adult
education, which tries to compensate for a lack of knowledge. Adult
learners are perceived as people with deficits and their experiential
learning and actual motivations are not taken into account.
Opposing these ageist conceptions of deficit theories, other
researchers from the sociocultural perspective have explored into the
concept of practical intelligence (Scribner, 1986) and cultural intel-
ligence (CREA, 1995-98). They have demonstrated that all people
have skills and knowledge that have been learned differently in di-
verse contexts. Furthermore, all have the capacity for learning new
knowledge in new environments. There is no such thing as a “learn-
ing age”. For example, there are people who have difficulties to solv-
ing math problems presented in academic format, but can perform
complicated math operations related to household economy, sales
and shopping or managing the accounting of a small business. If
recognized, these adults would be able to transfer their practical and
communicative experiential learning to academic contexts.
The dialogic learning model is based in the critical theories of
authors from different disciplines such as Habermas (1984; 1987),
Freire (1970; 1997), and Vygotsky (1978), among others. From
critical and communicative approaches, they demonstrate that all
people have universal capacity for learning and that intellectual ca-
pacity does not decline with age but rather increases through inter-
actions with other people, especially in particular social environ-
ments. Often, we come to solve through communication many daily
situations that we would not be able to solve alone with our aca-
demic or practical knowledge and skills. The concept of cultural
intelligence explains this communicative learning process.
Adult learning centers with a dialogic orientation are achieving
greater academic success and increasing learners’ participation, not
only in the school but also in their local communities. Dialogic learn-
ing (Flecha, 2000), grounded in principles such as egalitarian dia-
logue, transformation, instrumental dimension and solidarity, re-
sponds to the interests, needs and competencies of the participants
involved in the learning process—rather than the interests of educa-
tors and other professionals. Learning is de-bureaucratized because
all people take part in the creation of knowledge. Learners can par-
ticipate in decision-making, attend at any time during the day and
during holidays. Knowledge is built among all on the basis of egali-
tarian dialogue and shared experience.
There are several projects grounded in dialogic learning that
have overcome the deficit model in their practice. One example is
the Dialogic Literary Circles, which are reading circles that focus on
reading classic literature and target adult literacy learners with no
academic background (those who attend adult basic education).
Through this experience, adults who have never read a book and
were labeled by society as “illiterate” come to read, discuss, and en-
joy classic books by authors such as Kafka, Cervantes, Zola,
Dostoyevsky and Joyce. The dialogic literary circles promote an ex-
ceptional learning process for adult literacy learners.
Usually, low literate, working-class people have been excluded
from the great written works, although many of these works actually
talk about the lives of common people. In the Dialogic Literary Circles,
however, many participants have had the opportunity to demon-
strate that they not only can read the classics, they also like reading
it, and prefer reading the classics than the traditional materials and
activities adapted to low literate adult learners. A woman who takes
part in a dialogic circle told us that the first time her son saw her
reading a book he said, “Mama, how come you are reading this book?”
She had just started attending the literary circle and that book was
Metamorphosis by Kafka. People with a college degree do not think
that common people can participate in the “high culture” they have
access to, and that is why this mother had never dreamed she would
be able to read such works until she met people like her in this
literary circle.
In the Dialogic Literary Circles, adults with limited reading
skills demonstrate that they do not have limited knowledge or intel-
lectual capacity for learning, reflection, and discussion. They show
high motivation to accessing domains often considered to be “for the
educated” or “for the elite.” As a consequence, many start voicing
their opinions and become more active in their communities, local
associations, and other domains of their lives, thus experiencing a
wider social transformation. The dialogic learning that takes place in
these circles transform the relationships among people and between
them and their environments.
In the literary circles all the contributions must be equally lis-
tened and considered and no opinion can be imposed as true or
more accurate. The teachers or moderators do not provide the “right”
interpretation of a book, as there are no experts in an egalitarian
dialogue. By reading, dialoguing and reflecting together they over-
come barriers that have been traditionally excluding them from edu-
cation and social participation. Furthermore, when participants read
and comment on a book, they also talk about the history and social
conditions of that period. Many ask their relatives or look up infor-
mation in the encyclopedia to share it afterwards with the rest of the
group. Unlike commonly held assumptions, dialogism increases in-
strumental learning of academic knowledge and abilities. The liter-
ary circle provides a space for meaning creation in which adult learn-
ers share life experiences, relate to each other, decide together what
they want to learn, and construct new common projects. The Dia-
logic literary circles are open to everybody, there are no economic or
academic barriers to participate. The group always give priority to

the participation of people with lower educational levels, thus pro-
moting solidarity.
Many adults who participate in dialogic literary circles depart
from situations of exclusion as working class, low-schooled, immi-
grant, gypsy and/or women, and many end up doing profound
changes in their family, work, and personal relationships. They do
not subscribe to the idea that “we live in a oppressing system that
determines our lives;” instead they are to dream the possibility of
changing their lives. They find new meanings through sharing words.
Creators of Information Society

In the struggle for the overcoming of social inequalities we need
to look for examples of those practices that help promote an infor-
mation society for all. Today adult people are encountering new spaces
in which to create digital dialogues that allows for the expression of
all voices.
Oftentimes, there are theories that favor the interests of cul-
tural elites and deny the possibility of an information society for all.
For instance, there are academics who discuss the usefulness of ICT
for poor people or countries. They argue that systems are so power-
ful that they lead most people to disinformation, manipulation and
cultural assimilation. However, they provide all kind of digital re-
sources for themselves and their own children. Nevertheless, the ex-
cluded population have already taken an option: they are choosing
to create new ways of getting connected in order not to be left be-
hind. They use the potential of these channels in their current social
and economic conditions and they generate social practices and dy-
namics to overcome exclusion such as racism.
Habermas (1984) contends that people are active subjects who
influence and create their own emancipation from systemic imposi-
tions, and the new digital practices demonstrate that people can
break free from traditional barriers. In the face of affirmations (typi-

cally Western) there are other realities such as what some African
movements stated in Bamako (2002)2 : Même si Internet ne se mange
pas, bientôt, sans une économie basée sur Internet, on ne pourra pas
manger [We cannot eat Internet, but without an economy based on
Internet we will not be able to eat].
Through digital dialogues, excluded groups create new spaces
of lifelong learning in the information society and open possibilities
for all. One example is the Digital Literary Gatherings, which were
developed by participants in dialogic literary circles who decided to
expand their experience through internet forums about the books
they read. They are adult learners with no academic background
who meet weekly and share their collective reflections and interpre-
tations about a book in a virtual forum on the Internet. 3
Through the digital gatherings, collective reflection is not only
enhanced by the dialogic pedagogy of the literary circles mentioned
above, but also by the dialogic possibilities of the Internet. It is an
inclusive practice—participants do not need to be computer literate
because the most important activity is sharing the book. In this way,
people who have never touched a computer are able to participate
by listening to their classmates who have been in the forum. How-
ever, participation in this project has enhanced participants’ motiva-
tion to learn about the use of new information technologies and has
broken many barriers to entering the computer room.
Once they get involved through a process of learning based on
egalitarian dialogue, participants gain confidence in themselves and
cannot stop learning. Dialogic literary circles through virtual space
allow people to gain contact with other cultures and languages, which
increases their motivation and excitement to continue learning and
creating new projects. Virtual communication with the literary circles
has also broken down prejudices and false assumptions across cul-
tures, overcoming stereotypes about “the other”. Participants realize
they have many things in common, although they live in different
countries, when they see that many social problems are quite similar
around the world. This fact fosters solidarity, anti-racist attitudes,
and cultural coexistence. In addition, it promotes the creation of
collective knowledge from the diversity of contributions and reflec-
tions shared. The digital gatherings have created a physical and vir-
tual space for intercultural and egalitarian dialogue while promot-
ing universal access to literary classics and to new technologies.
Another practice is the “Agora Spot,” a computer space located
in a neighborhood at the periphery of Barcelona. The spot is open
from 9 am to 10 p.m., 7 days a week, 12 months a year, and people
from the area can use the space for free to learn, connect with other
people, coordinate work for their local associations, etc. The room is
always full of people from all ages who help each other, share their
learning.
In the Agora Spot, people’s interactions are based on egalitar-
ian dialogue. This is not a space in which people search through
internet or do different tasks with computers on individual or con-
sumer basis. This is a space where people who are using the internet
or the computer interact communicatively, starting from the assump-
tion that all people (who can or cannot read, who have or have not
ever touched a “mouse”) can learn at the maximum. At the same
time, they acquire new knowledge and construct dialogues that trans-
form social biases and racists attitudes; they construct grounds for
an intercultural living together.
The Ágora Spot is a place for cultural exchange. People who
because of their cultural background or their socioeconomic status
are victims of social biases and do not get an equal treatment in
public spaces, are co-equals in this space. In the Ágora Spot, for
instance, immigrant people do not need legal status to participate.
Nobody asks them. Thus they exchange new knowledge and live
experiences in the new ways of communication offered by the infor-
mation society. In this way we could see a man from Senegal, with
no knowledge of Spanish, none of the computers, who learned in
three days how to check the news of his country in the internet. He
later helped others.
From Schools to Learning Communities

Adult education has traditionally been relegated to a second
plane, due to the compensatory understanding associated with it.
Governmental bodies and policy-makers usually put their priorities
in children and youth education even today, when current discourse
tends to stress the relevance of learning throughout life. However,
we know that children do not grow up in a vaccum and that interac-
tions with adults and their social environment are a key in the learn-
ing process. In fact, it is now widely recognized that one of the most
effective measures to overcoming primary and secondary school fail-
ure is the participation of family and community members in differ-
ent dimensions of the learning process. In this case, again, adult
education has a lot to contribute to reaching the excluded.
In Spain, the program Learning Communities (Comunidades
de Aprendizaje) is an example of how schools with high rates of drop-
out and marginalized population (low socioeconomic status, and
gypsy and immigrant children) are improving their academic achieve-
ment records and the learning environment by opening up to the
community and focusing on the participation of families, volunteers
and other community members. A Learning Community starts from
the view that all and every child have a right to a better education,
believing in their capacities, they are on the educational community
to reach that objective (Elboj, Puigdellívol, Soler & Valls, 2002:
73). Toward a better education for all, the transformation or the
school begins with a dream: children, teachers, families and local
associations dream the school they want and think of what they can
do together to achieve that dream. In all the schools, parents have
expressed the need for education for themselves, so they can help
their children.
For example, in one learning community, gypsy mothers stated

that learning computers and the English language was a priority for
them, for these are requirements in today’s society. Some also asked
for learning to read and write, but they said, “we want both at the
same time, literacy and computers; we don’t want to again be left
behind.” They are now becoming literate with computers and more
gypsy members of the community have joined the school initiative.
In another school, a Moroccan girl who is in the second grade told
us that her mother is studying like her. She explained that in the
evening they sit together at the dining table with their books to do
the homework. In this school, the Families Association had orga-
nized classes of literacy and Spanish as a second language and this
mother attends every afternoon while her daughter is in class. The
girl has a new referent and both mother and daughter have created a
space to learn together at home. Change of referent in the home for
the children is very important; many share for the first time spaces
of learning with the parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts, etc.
The private sphere is transformed, creating new expectations and
motivations. These experiences highlight the strong interest that fami-
lies have in the education of their children and their own education,
themselves demanding concrete courses, such as computers, literacy,
driving, Spanish as a second language or literary circles.
In the learning communities, there are also activities in which
family members learn together. For example, in several schools, they
have turned the library into what they call a “tutorial library,” in
which parents and volunteers read with the children, helping them
out with their homework, computer search for information in internet,
etc. Children share these spaces with parents, older brothers and
sisters, grandparents, and other people from the community, in joint
learning activities.
Through the involvement of more adults in the school and the
participation of parents and relatives who are rarely taken into ac-
count, the learning communities break down misconceptions about
the educational motivations of poor families, transform the learning

process, and enhance school achievement among children and youth
at risk who belong to excluded social groups.
The Voices of the Voiceless

The landscape of adult education in Spain has changed greatly
throughout the last decade. The adult education movement has been
radicalizing its democratic proposal by including the voices of par-
ticipants (adult learners) in the definition and decision-making about
adult education. In this way, adults with no formal education, and
who had no say in the public sphere because of their cultural, aca-
demic and social background, have became organized and making
their voices heard in the field of adult education.
The first federation self-organized by participants was FACEPA,
constituted in 1996. A main objective was for participants to coor-
dinate their actions in order to make their voices heard within the
field of adult education. From this platform, participants began a
process of dialogue and consensus-builing among different social
agents who wanted to record the right of all adults to a quality edu-
cation. This process led to the elaboration of a Declaration of the
Rights of Adult Education Participants. The declaration was written
and agreed upon by adult learners across Spain. In 1997, the Par-
ticipants’ Bill of Rights was presented by participants in Hamburg,
during UNESCO’s CONFINTEA V. A year later, the Socrates Pro-
gram (European Commission) funded a project coordinated by
FACEPA to discuss the Participants’ Bill of Rights with representa-
tives from the Netherlands and Belgium, who followed the same
procedure of consensus-building initiative in Spain. As a result, the
Participants’ Bill of Rights was given an Award by the Socrates Com-
mission, as the “Best Dissemination Project between 1995 and 1999.”
In Spain, the Participants’ Bill of Rights has become a basis of
this social movement nationally. In fact, participants intend to ex-
tend their transformative projects to more people like them, to ex-

tend their rights as far as possible, and in so doing, enlarge their
network. Most of the members of FACEPA are adult education or
cultural associations that are organizing themselves, and managing
their own projects and activities. Groups of participants and com-
munity organizations often get in contact with the federation to
seek resources and solidarity.
FACEPA organizes two annual conferences—the Literacy Learn-
ers’ Conference and the Dialogic Literary Circles’ Conference, both
of which aim to democratize adult education, and to reach out to
those people who are more often silenced. Each conference, orga-
nized by participants themselves, has brought together more than
400 adults in adult basic education and literacy classes. The former
is oriented to defining learners’ proposals and demands about the
kind of adult basic education they want. The latter focuses on ex-
tending the experience of dialogic reading to more participants, as
well as to make the outcomes of the popular education project more
visible to the mainstream academic world.
The participants’ movement has as its primary objective the
promotion of a participatory, democratic, and transformative model
of adult education. They are, thus, promoting a social model of edu-
cation where participants’ voices, interests, and needs are taken into
account, and their abilities and knowledge are recognized. Through
their associations and federations, participants organize themselves
not only to press for their rights to education but also to participate
in society in a broader sense. One participant told us:
If they don’t let you participate [in social move-
ments] you are just a spectator . . . but if the par-
ticipant is part of a movement, besides being in-
formed about what is happening, you live it, and
participate in it . . . this is the advantage of the
participants’ associations and federations. It is a way
of taking part in our society, in our current prob-
lems and in our local or global environment.
Learning from Their Voices

Adults with no academic background, whether they are actual
or potential participants in adult education, cultural associations or
social movements, have a lot to contribute to the definition of soci-
ety at many levels. Intellectuals and scholars of international rel-
evance have already stressed the importance of including these voices
in the decision-making process of learning and teaching, school or-
ganization, and educational goals. Their participation is key to fur-
ther democracy in education and society.
Paulo Freire, has always argued the need to include the voices
of the oppressed, since he started working with excluded adults in
the favelas of Recife, Brazil (Freire, 1970). Through his critical con-
ception of education and his literacy method (the generative word)
his praxis obtained excellent results because it started from these
people’s words, and especially because it promoted egalitarian dia-
logue with them.
Jürgen Habermas was theorizing for the European Union how
to overcome the conceptualization of patriotism linked to a particu-
lar territory. The work he was undertaking at a theoretical level was
reinforced by the voice of the gypsy people, traditionally excluded
from the academic sphere. In a seminar, Habermas learned from the
gypsy community how they define themselves as a people without
territory. For instance, in Spain, the gypsy people claimed the recog-
nition of another Autonomous Community without territory. In this
way, the voice of social actors are contributing to creating social theory.
Similarly, Judith Butler today argues that the feminism of the
21st century needs to include the voices of all women who are in the
margins (Beck-Gernsheim, Butler & Puigvert, in press). In a confer-
ence on Women and Social Transformation (held in Barcelona 2001)
she shared for the first time these debates with the “other women”
—cleaning ladies, illiterate women, gypsy mothers, all women with
non academic background. Butler was impressed with the opinions
and reflections that these women made, and specially was taken by
the critical and fighting attitude of Emilia, a gypsy woman, grand-
mother and illiterate, who explained the struggles of gypsy women
in the field of education to avoid marginalization of their girls in
school without renouncing their culture. Besides disenchantment
and despair existing among the gypsies, Emilia proposed the possi-
bility of change. Butler highlighted: “the Gypsies are obviously dis-
enfranchised, but Emilia is constantly fighting against this situa-
tion. I believe this is a remarkable experience of empowerment; she
cannot read but she has a lot to say and to do.” She ended the Con-
ference hoping that in future conferences and similar events, the
voices of participants and people in the margins are included. Prob-
ably these words can help academics, educators, and policy-makers
to reflect on how we can orient our theories and practices to reach-
ing the excluded when we discuss the need for inclusive education
towards a more democratic society.
Endnotes
1
Due to the “Dotcom Summit” in Lisbon, in March 2000, the
European Commission established an action plan called “eLearning: Mak-
ing the Education of the Future”. This action was part of a wider plan
called “eEurope” in June 2000. The main objectives of eLearning were
to promote the development of an infrastructure of high quality at a
reasonable cost, to support digital literacy as a whole and to foster coop-
eration and links at all levels – local, regional, national and European –
and among all the sectors involved, from schools to learning centers to
resources and service providers. Furthermore, both the Memorandum
of Lifelong learning and the White Paper of Governance include the
democratization of ICT and widening citizenship participation through
education.
2
http://www.africultures.com/revue_africultures/articles/
sommaire.asp?no_dossier=23
3
The first project (1999-2001) was called Gatherings in Cyberspace,
coordinated by an association of participants from Barcelona, and funded
by the Grundtvig Program (European Commission). The project included
adult learners from Denmark, the Czech Republic, France and Spain.
http://www.neskes.net/gatherings
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Mobile Training Activities of the Community
Learning Centers in Uzbekistan
Alisher Ikramov*
A ccording to Constitution of Uzbekistan, all citizens of the coun-

try, regardless of race, religion, sex and social status have com-
mon access to education free of charge. Compulsory education in
Uzbekistan is 12 years: 9 years of secondary education and three
years of professional education (professional colleges or academic ly-
ceums).
A general secondary education with a nine-year period of stud-
ies includes primary education for four years. The adoption of a legal
framework for access to education is, of course, only the beginning
of a process, and it is important to encourage those children who
gain such access to pursue their studies as far as possible—ideally up
to the completion of the cycle concerned.
Notwithstanding the fact that Uzbekistan had managed to
maintain historically high level of intake and participation in pri-
*Secretary-General, National Commission of the Republic of

Uzbekistan for UNESCO.
mary education, it reaffirmed its commitment to continuing this

process. The objective was focused more on lifting average levels of
attendance, and to improvements in the material condition of schools,
increased availability of teaching and learning resources, curricular
reform and professional development of teachers.
The increasing rate of urbanization shows that modern indus-
try is entering the rural areas of the country. This tendency leads to
the development of whole scene of pupils’ participation in pre-pri-
mary and primary schools.
The goal is for Uzbekistan to keep almost 100 percent partici-
pation in different levels of education, which could not be achieved
unless gender disparities are removed.
Undoubtedly, many of the goals set by Uzbekistan depend on
the acquisition and application of additional resources. It is abun-
dantly clear that at least in the early years of the next decade, not all
of these can be provided by the government and so other sources
will have to found. This will require new kinds of partnerships to be
forged between government and local community. It will also re-
quire greater coordination between government and international
bilateral and other agencies so that projects can be designed and
implemented that fit into larger programs, which in turn are ele-
ments of a national strategy.
This may not be an easy task as education system managers in
Uzbekistan have little experience of working with local communities
in a truly collaborative manner. Of course, it is true that local com-
munities have little experience of working with senior education plan-
ners and project managers from the central government. Moreover,
it must be said that international and bilateral agencies often have
their own priorities and these may not be consonant with those of
other agencies or be consistent with the strategies of national educa-
tion planners.
Compared with areas of primary, basic and secondary educa-
tion, the areas of adult and lifelong education in Uzbekistan require
MOBILE TRAINING ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMUNITY... / A. IKRAMOV 91
substantive organizational and institutional response to the tremen-

dous social demand for new knowledge and skills, corresponding to
the challenges of emerging market economy and democracy.
There existed in the Soviet past qualitative mismatch between
adult and lifelong education, on one side, and labor market demands,
on the other side. The impressive quantitative figures of graduates
and diploma specialists were the first victims of unemployment due
to structural adjustment policies in the public sector. Enormous
public resources were spent to teach overspecialized disciplines, but
the students and graduates were defenseless in a market economy.
Even higher education diploma was no longer a guarantee of em-
ployment or adequate remuneration.
In response to these new challenges, the Parliament of
Uzbekistan adopted in 1997 a new “Law on Education.” On the
basis of a new legal act, the Government of Uzbekistan adopted long-
term National Program on Personnel Training. The Program is the
normative scientific basis for reforms. Starting from 1997, it is being
put into practice stage by stage. The document paves the way for
radical reforms in the structure and content of the educational sys-
tem, including the nine years of compulsory general secondary edu-
cation followed by three years of compulsory vocational education
(via professional colleges and academic lyceums). The essence and
distinguishing feature of the new model is the integrated system
approach, incorporating such basic components as personality, state
and community, continuous education, science and production.
The study in academic lyceums and professional colleges pro-
vides deep and broad knowledge, and helps students acquire specific
professions. The graduates of these educational institutions receive
state diplomas, which grant the right to continue education in sub-
sequent stages and to begin professional activities.
Transition to a new system of education has been started in
1998 and will be completed in forthcoming decade. This is geared
towards the development and rational placement of new educa-
tional institutions within the system of secondary specialized and

vocational training taking into account geographical and demo-
graphic conditions. In support of this transformation process,
UNESCO has started in 1998 the project Community Learning
Centers (CLC) in Uzbekistan. The objective of the project is to
support “Education for All” strategy and promote a lifelong edu-
cation system with particular focus on non-formal education pro-
grams. Non-formal education programs cover early childhood and
adult education, among others, with the support of the local com-
munity and representatives of civil society. In the meantime, there
are seven functioning CLCs in Uzbekistan, which somehow con-
tribute to the development of pre-primary education programs,
indicators of which will impact on the gross enrolment rate in the
primary schools. Illiterates, school drop outs, people with limited
reading skills and local youth participate in various activities of the
CLCs.
The Government of Uzbekistan adopted new educational stan-
dards in 2001. On the basis of the new standards respective educa-
tional institutes had elaborated their own curriculum and introduced
new training facilities.
New educational standards are focusing on:
• expanding the labor market in the service sector, which is still
small, to offset redundancies in manufacturing and farming;
• developing small-scale enterprises, which will provide most
of the jobs in the economy;
• encouraging the emergence of a new productive class, which
will strengthen the social pluralism that is the essence of de-
mocracies; and
• restoring the values of merit, risk-taking, innovation and hard
work, which are their driving forces of a market economy.
In terms of implications for lifelong learning, the contexts of 1)
the replacement of public ownership by private ownership, and 2)
the switch from centralized to largely decentralized decision-mak-

ing process, are crucial.
The new program involves democratization of educational
management by enhancing the autonomy of educational institu-
tions while encouraging the participation of the private sector,
NGOs and the local community to the construction of a learning
society.
All these efforts are creating positive attitudes among the youth
towards lifelong education and professional career. The youth sec-
tor is not in a favorable position to compete with working adults
for long-existing jobs, but have more chances of getting new jobs
created in private and informal sectors. An unusual phenomena,
compared to the experience of some countries, is that in the period
of profound social transformation in Uzbekistan, the young gen-
eration is increasingly pragmatic and active in the informal sector
and self-employment. A sociological survey reveals that majority of
the youth try to improve their qualifications and find a job corre-
sponding to their education.
These trends stimulated the creation of alternative non-gov-
ernmental educational centers, which provide short-term training
courses for upgrading the professional qualifications of adults. In
this regard, the support of UNESCO in the creation of Community
Learning Centers in Uzbekistan accelerated the process of introduc-
ing new modes for adult and lifelong education, particularly in rural
and remote areas.
In support of lifelong learning, an innovative mode has been
introduced as well—Information Centers within public educational
institutes. The tasks of Information Centers are:
• rendering telecommunication services (distance education);
• duplicating and circulating scientific literature and teaching
aids and information;
• information marketing;
• wide utilization of small-scale publishing facilities for provi-

sion of learning materials;
• introduction of a virtual library system;
• elaboration of teaching materials on the basis of ICT (multi-
media CD-ROMs).
The Information Centers are an integral part of educational
institutions, which provide lifelong learning programs, contribut-
ing to the elaboration of mechanisms for the establishment of a
“knowledge society.” Respective academic councils of educational
institutions carry out the monitoring and evaluation of activities of
such Information Centers.
The trend towards more and better human resources develop-
ment in Uzbekistan, including lifelong and adult education, are in-
evitable. The challenge is to facilitate the process in appropriate forms,
according to youth aspirations and the demands of democratic soci-
eties and labor markets.
The central and local education institutions in Uzbekistan are
facing a need to collaborate with foreign lifelong education institu-
tions, as well as industry and commerce in dealing with such issues
as:
1) Development of curricula and training materials for the dif-
ferent levels and types of adult education, with more empha-
sis on practicalities and externalities of the initial period of
economic activities, including the informal sector and self-
employment operations;
2) designing in-science teacher training and retraining schemes
to improve the competence of trainers and the quality of edu-
cation together with qualitative market-oriented changes in
the teacher training institutions; and
3) creation of the professional networks for lifelong and adult
education for coordination of activities and better dissemina-
tion of “good practices.”
Despite the fact that the Republic of Uzbekistan has a huge

number of educators in secondary and higher educational establish-
ments, most of them, being good specialists in taught subject, often
use the educational methodology and technology of the previous
generations, that do not allow effective involvement of the students
into the learning process. The “USTOZ” (Teacher) National Foun-
dation carries out systematic retraining and improvement of profes-
sional skills of Uzbekistan educators in the areas of their specializa-
tion according to 28 priorities identified. Implementing educational
programs, “USTOZ” Foundation has to deal with the problem of
poor technological equipment in regional high schools, colleges, ly-
ceums, and universities. In many higher educational establishments,
there are computers not linked to the local network and without
access to the Internet. The absence of the modern technical equip-
ment and access to worldwide informational Web sites does not al-
low the teacher to relate to colleagues from developed foreign coun-
tries.
In this regard, the idea of the organization of Mobile Techni-
cal Center was suggested as one of the options for solving some of
the problems outlined above. The Mobile Technical Center, lo-
cated in Community Learning Center, could be equipped by por-
table computers linked to a network with access to the Internet
which can be placed on microbus and assembled in any place within
1-2 hours. With such a mobile technical center, it is possible to
effectively conduct seminars and training courses. It has been pro-
posed to create 7 mobile teams of trainers (within seven CLCs of
Uzbekistan), consisting of those who obtained international expo-
sure and training in various areas of study. These teams, during the
year, will conduct training seminars, replacing one another, in all
regions of the country. Seminars will cover all 28 specializations
identified as priority.
The “USTOZ” National Foundation already had preliminary
experience of conducting such work at its Computer Center in
Tashkent (the Computer Center was also provided by UNESCO

within so called Participation Program request of country). Together
with UNESCO, the National Council on Economic Education and
other international institutions, a number of regional and national
seminars were successfully conducted within the Computer Center
of “USTOZ” Foundation. Experts from two Community Learning
Centers of Uzbekistan were trained during the last two years.
The short-term objectives of the Mobile Training Center are to
improve the professional skills of the population (e.g., agricultural
extension program), to provide updated retraining facilities for edu-
cators, and to establish close collaborative networks with potential
partners (educational, scientific and cultural institutions) from
abroad.
The long-term objective of the Mobile Training Center is the
establishment of a “Smart Corridor” between rural and urban areas
of country, and to develop infrastructure for distance education.
The tasks of the Mobile Training Center are:
• local and international training of mobile teams of educators
and specialists from local institutions;
• organization of training seminars on new educational tech-
nologies and methodologies;
• organization of retraining courses on the priority specialties;
• organization of virtual libraries on various subjects of educa-
tion;
• monitoring, evaluation and feedback of training activities.
Towards a realization of gradual and continuous education
within the framework of implementation of the National Program
on Personnel Training, the plan is to technically upgrade the com-
puter equipment and constantly improve professional skills of ex-
perts of the mobile teams once every two years.
The target is to annually train up to 2,000 people from various
regions of country. “USTOZ” National Foundation will use the edu-
cators as experts of mobile training team. Thus, the actual number

of teachers involved could even be much higher.
At present (since 1998), more than 100 educators of Uzbekistan
have passed retraining abroad under the programs of the “USTOZ”
Foundation. Mobile training will be coordinated by Republican Edu-
cation Center, “USTOZ” Foundation and other partner organiza-
tions.
The strategy on establishment of “Smart Corridor” will be based
on collaborative efforts of governmental and non-governmental or-
ganizations of Uzbekistan with foreign partners in order to promote
the creation of an open democratic society and a market-oriented
economy.
In-country training courses of the Mobile Training Team will
cover issues on:
• the study of new teaching methods, standards of various for-
eign educational systems, educational curricula and programs;
• qualification and recognition of diplomas, equivalency mecha-
nism between formal and non-formal education;
• introduction of scientific achievements into the educational
process;
• basic skills on utilization of modern informational technol-
ogy in daily life;
• elaboration of multimedia, video or radio educational pro-
grams;
• improving the knowledge of foreign languages.
“Smart Corridor” will connect all seven Community Learning
Centers among themselves and with well-known scientific, educa-
tional and cultural institutions in the country and abroad. At the
first stage, because there are 14 administrative regions in Uzbekistan,
the Mobile Training Teams of the Community Learning Centers will
serve several regions. On the basis of collected information, the Mobile
Training team will create a virtual library, which will contain text-
books, methodological handbooks, science education, etc. Provid-

ing adults with an opportunity to get familiar with new textbooks,
educational and scientific journals is one of the major elements in
the creation of a favorable environment for the construction of a
learning society.
Gains in Literacy Campaigns
in Turkey
r
Esat Sagcan*
O ne of the priority issues when the Republic of Turkey was

established in 1923 was to combat illiteracy. Almost 90 per-
cent of the population was illiterate then. Two nationwide literacy
campaigns commenced in 1928 when the Latin alphabet was
adopted. Two million people attended literacy courses between 1928-
1959 at, what we call, “Schools of Nation” and “Public Classrooms.”
The Turkish armed forces initiated the other literacy campaign,
in the same year, in 1928, and has kept on providing literacy courses
for those who have not had the chance to attend school for any rea-
son, during their military service.
The Functional Literacy Program was conducted between 1971-
1973 as a follow-up to an international Conference held in the late
1960s.
The 100th Year Literacy campaign was launched in 1981 in
celebration of the 100th birthday of Atatürk, the founder of the
*Director General, Apprenticeship and Non-formal Education,

Turkey.
Republic of Turkey. The campaign lasted eight years, and 4 million

people became literate through about 195 thousand courses.
The literacy rate of the overall population rose from 67.2 per-
cent to 80 percent and to 90 percent for the employable population
(14-44 age group).
Another literacy campaign commenced on the world literacy
day, on September 8, 1992, lasting for five years in 13 provinces
with the highest illiteracy rates.
According to the projections of the State Statistic Institute, the
literacy rate for the age group 15 and above was 83 percent and 96
percent for the 15-44 age group in 1997.
A campaign for the development of the education of girls and
women was run between 1997 and 2000 in line with the resolu-
tions of the 4th World Conference on women in Beijing in 1995.
The courses were open to the public with priority given to girls and
women, and aimed to furnish the individuals with basic life skills
and vocational skills.
Meantime, the Campaign for Supporting the National Educa-
tion was launched on September 8, 2001 to mobilize the educa-
tional activities carried out by the Ministry of National Education,
especially non-formal education activities. Under the leadership of
the spouse of the President of Turkey, the campaign has received
favorable response from all levels of the society.
The main goal of this campaign is to provide opportunities for
those who are illiterate to complete their basic education and to
help them acquire income-generating vocational skills. The campaign
was undertaken in cooperation with the Ministry of National Edu-
cation, other public institutions, private and independent bodies,
local administrations, non-governmental organizations and volun-
teers. Another important goal of the campaign is to ensure the in-
clusion of the children who remained outside the formal educational
system for various reasons.
GAINS IN LITERACY CAMPAIGNS IN TURKEY / E. SAGCAN 101
The Ministry of National Education issued a circular letter

annoucing the campaign to ensure its effective and efficient imple-
mentations. The campaign includes a health component. Partici-
pants in the educational activities of the campaign are offered free
medical check-ups undertaken in cooperation with health educa-
tion centers affiliated to the Ministry and other local health institu-
tions in order to attract more people.
Table 1. Participation in the activities of the campaign

(September 8,2001- September 8,2002)
Type of Number of Female Male Total

Courses Courses
Literacy Course
(1st Level) 13,715 193,184 81,277 274,461
Literacy Course
(2nd Level) 4,113 40,755 39,538 80,293
Total 17,828 233,939 120,815 354,754
Vocational
Technical Courses 20,608 245,151 160,934 406,085
Social Cultural
Courses 10,406 157,927 143,857 301,784
Total 31,014 403,078 304,791 707,869
Gross Total 48,832 637,017 425,606 1,062,623
To reach more people and to make better use of present re-

sources, necessary measures have been taken to make available school
facilities for non-formal education activities.
In cooperation with the National Education Foundation
200,000 literacy course books needed in the context of the cam-
paign were published.
During the first year of the campaign, 17,828 literacy courses

were opened; 354,754 citizens attended these courses throughout
the country. On the other hand, more than four hundred thousand
individuals gained skills necessary for employment through 20,608
vocational and technical courses. More than three hundred thou-
sand adults attended 10,406 social and cultural courses while
4,859,443 citizens attended social and cultural events (panels, con-
ferences, concerts, exhibitions, etc.) organized within the context of
the campaign.
r
Reviewing Adult Education
Practices
Adult Education Policies and Provision
in Ireland under the Department of Education
and Science 1997-2002: A Tale in Four Parts
Helen Keogh*
Introduction
I propose to structure this account of adult education policies and

provision in Ireland under the Department of Education and
Science over the past five years since 1997 as a tale in four parts as
follows:
• Part 1, “The Cinderella of the Education System,” deals with
adult education in Ireland in the period prior to 1997.
• Part 2, “The Arrival of the Fairy Godmother,” deals with the
positive developments that followed the appointment of a Minister
of State for Adult Education in 1997.
• Part 3, “Going to the Ball” and “Having a Ball,” describes
developments in adult education over the past twenty-six months
following the publication of the White Paper on adult education in
August 2000.
*National Coordinator, VTOS, Department of Education and Sci-

ence, Ireland.
• Part 4, “Happy Ever After?” looks to the immediate and longer-

term future facing adult education at the end of 2002.
Learning for Life: White Paper on Adult Education (Department
of Education and Science 2000) defines adult education as “system-
atic learning undertaken by adults who return to learning having
concluded initial education or training.” Adult education includes
aspects of further education, higher education, continuing educa-
tion, community education and other systematic deliberate learn-
ing by adults—formal, non-formal and informal. The White Paper
does not cover vocational training which is the responsibility of up
to eight other Government departments and I generally observe
that distinction in this paper.
The period 1996-2001 in Ireland was the greatest period of
accelerated change—economic, social, cultural—ever experienced in
the history of the country. This five-year period saw unprecedented
economic growth with the general Government balance going from
a deficit of 0.3percent of GDP in 1996 to a surplus of 4.6 percent
in 2000. In 2001, this had fallen to 1.1 percent (Kiely 2002). Net
annual immigration went from 8,000 in 1996 to 26,300 by 2001.
Taking a longer view, we find that unemployment fell from 15.7
percent in 1993 to 3.7 percent by 2001. The drop in long-term
unemployment was even more dramatic, falling from 8.9 percent in
1993 to 1.2 percent in 2001—a drop of 104,000 or 83 percent
(Government of Ireland 2002).
“The Cinderella of the Educational System”

Prior to the appointment of the Minister of State for Adult
Education in 1997, adult education was widely considered the
“cinderella” of the educational system in Ireland. Adult education
policy and provision were beset by a number of challenges—contex-
tual, policy-related and provision-related.
ADULT EDUCATION POLICIES AND PROVISION IN IRELAND / H. KEOGH 107
Contextual Challenges
In 1996, there was a deficit of 0.3 percent of GDP in the gen-
eral Government balance in Ireland, and unemployment stood at
11.0 percent (Government of Ireland 2002). Consequently, the
vast majority of spending on adult learning was on vocational train-
ing under a number of Government departments, especially the
Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment through the
National Training Authority, FÁS. The persistent age-based differ-
ential in educational attainment among Irish adults was notewor-
thy, with approximately 1.1 million people or 45 percent of the
population aged 15-64 having completed a maximum of lower sec-
ondary education in 1995. A further 1.22 million or 53 percent had
completed at least upper secondary, with 17 percent having com-
pleted higher education (Department of Education and Science
2000). In addition, the (OECD) International Adult Literacy Survey:
Results for Ireland 1997 (Government of Ireland 1997) carried out in
Ireland in 1995 revealed that 25 percent of the Irish population
aged 15-64 scored at the lowest level (Level 1) of literacy attainment
on a scale of 1-5, with a further 32 percent scoring at Level 2.
Policy Challenges
With regard to policy, it would be fair to say that, up to 1997,
adult education was marginalized within the Department of Educa-
tion and Science and was not the focus of policy development. Spend-
ing was concentrated on providing for a young population in pri-
mary, secondary and higher education, and expenditure on adult
education was less than one percent of the overall education budget.
There was a reliance on the European Social Fund of the European
Commission and on a pilot project approach. Much of the develop-
ment that had taken place in adult education over the previous ten
years had been dependent on committed individuals at national and
local levels.
Provision Challenges
Prior to 1997, the absence of national structures to provide a
co-ordinating and formalizing framework for the adult education
sector was very evident. At national level, the Adult Education Sec-
tion of the Department of Education and Science worked with lim-
ited funding to promote adult education. At local level, the ad hoc
Adult Education Boards of the Vocational Education Committees
(VECs) provided a limited structure for adult education in each VEC
area. There are thirty-three Vocational Education Committees (VECs)
throughout Ireland which deliver much of the adult education pro-
vision funded by the Department of Education and Science. In each
VEC area, adult education organizers (AEOs) are responsible for the
management of adult education provision.
In 1997, adult education provision in the VECs comprised
programmes for unemployed adults wishing to return to learning
(VTOS – Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme), for adults
with literacy challenges (Literacy Service), for adult members of the
Traveller community (STTCs – Senior Traveller Training Centres),
for early school leavers (YOUTHREACH) and for adults returning
to learning on post-Leaving Certificate courses (PLCs). In all, the
total number of adults on these programmes was under 25,000 in-
dividuals and the majority of provision was funded through the
European Social Fund. Funding from the Department of Education
and Science for community education for adults wishing to learn in
community-based settings was very limited. Self-financing classes
catered to about 180,000 adults annually.
In 1997, many adults in Ireland, especially those with the low-
est levels of education and training, faced a multiplicity of barriers to
access organized learning. These included institutional, informational,
situational and personal barriers. Adult education providers were not
always aware of the need to tailor adult learning provision to the needs
of the prospective learners in terms of promotion and publicity, entry
requirements, timing, teaching methodologies, learner support and
progression opportunities. Many adults were not in a position to avail

of appropriate learning opportunities due to inhibiting eligibility cri-
teria and lack of support such as educational guidance, tutorial sup-
port, childcare, elder care and transport. In addition, many adults
faced personal barriers to returning to organized learning due to their
experiences in initial education and their self-perception and self-es-
teem as learners. Furthermore, even for adult learners who were keen
to return to learning, there was a lack of structures and transparency
regarding entry points, credit accumulation, progression pathways,
transfer and exit points due to the absence of a coordinated national
certification framework for all learning.
The majority of the staff in adult education programs funded
through the VECs were employed on part-time, temporary con-
tracts. There was an absence of recognised specific pre-service train-
ing for adult education staff, and in-career development funded by
Department of Education and Science was only beginning.
Overall, adult education in Ireland pre-1997 was in serious
need of policy and provision development so as to shed its cinderella
status within the overall education system and within the wider world
of adult learning.
“The Arrival of the Fairy Godmother”

The appointment of the first Minister of State for Adult Edu-
cation, Mr Willie O’Dea TD, in 1997 was widely welcomed by
adult education stakeholders. His appointment was interpreted as
indicating a commitment on the part of the Government and the
Department of Education and Science to finally turn attention and
funding towards the development of adult education. He was her-
alded as the “fairy godmother” to transform adult education.
Green Paper on Adult Education
One of the first decisions taken by the Minister of State was
that a Green Paper on adult education would be published as soon
as possible. Accordingly, Adult Education in an Era of Lifelong Learning

(Department of Education and Science 1998) was published in
November 1998. It was the first Green Paper on Adult Education
since the foundation of the State and it drew together, for the first
time, the current policies, provision and concerns of adult educa-
tion in Ireland.
The publication of the Green Paper was followed (and also
preceded) by an extensive consultation process to obtain the views
of a diverse range of interests on its contents and on the principles
and strategies which should underpin the future development of
adult education in Ireland. The main concerns voiced in the feed-
back to the Green Paper during the consultation process were:
• that policy objectives for adult education should embrace
personal, cultural and social goals as well as economic ones,
and be seen as promoting collective as well as personal ad-
vancement;
• that issues of socioeconomic status, gender and interculturalism
should underpin all adult education policy initiatives, with
the needs of marginalized groups being identified and ad-
dressed explicitly, and with strategies to strengthen and ex-
pand the role of community education providers in this area;
• that the barriers to access and progression arising from ac-
creditation difficulties and lack of flexibility and support ser-
vices should be addressed. Almost all submissions stressed
the urgency of developing flexible mechanisms for accredita-
tion of prior and work-based learning;
• that the proposed role and functions of the proposed na-
tional and local structures—the National Adult Learning
Council and the Local Adult Learning Boards—were welcome,
but that there was little consensus regarding the hosting of
the local structures which, it was anticipated, would lead to a
more coordinated, coherent and integrated provision of adult
education in Ireland.
White Paper on Adult Education

The extensive feedback on the Green Paper heavily influenced
Learning for Life: White Paper on Adult Education published in Au-
gust 2000 (Department of Education and Science 2000). The White
Paper reflected on the role of adult education in society and set out
the Government’s policies and priorities for the future development
of adult education in Ireland for the period of the National Devel-
opment Plan 2000-2006 (Government of Ireland 1999a). It did
not aim to provide a policy blueprint for the training sector. Rather,
it sought to ensure that there was a fit and complementarity be-
tween education and training provision, to ensure that learners could
move progressively and incrementally within an over-arching co-
ordinated and learner-centred framework.
Proposals in the White Paper for the Development
of Adult Education
The White Paper identified six priority areas in setting out a
role for adult education in Ireland, viz., citizenship, consciousness-
raising, cohesion, competitiveness, cultural development and community
building.
The paper recommended that the development of adult edu-
cation in Ireland should be underpinned by three core principles
promoting:
• a systemic approach which recognises that the interfaces be-
tween the different levels of education provision and the quality
of the early school experience have a critical influence on learn-
ers’ motivation and ability to access and progress in adult
education and training;
• equality of access, participation and outcome for participants
in adult education, with pro-active strategies to counteract
barriers arising from differences of socioeconomic status, gen-
der, ethnicity and disability. A key priority for the White
Paper in promoting an inclusive society is to target invest-
ment towards those most at risk;

• interculturalism—the need to frame educational policy and
practice in the context of serving a diverse population as op-
posed to a uniform one, and the need to accept such diversity
as the norm.
This inclusive view of the role of adult education was a clear
response to the criticism that the conception of adult education set
out in the Green Paper which preceded the White Paper had located
adult education in a human resource development paradigm only
and had not maintained a balance between the economic role of
adult education, on the one hand, and its personal, social, cultural
and political roles on the other.
In setting out funding priorities for adult education in the White
Paper the Government noted that there was a number of competing
needs to be addressed. These included the need to:
• significantly increase the scale and flexibility of existing pro-
vision;
• provide an increased role and funding for community educa-
tion;
• make large scale increases in adult literacy investment;
• invest systematically in the development of core supporting
services such as guidance and childcare;
• expand capital provision for adult education;
• implement an ICT program for adults;
• develop specific equality initiatives to improve the participa-
tion of marginalized groups;
• put in place national and local structures to develop, sup-
port, monitor and assure the quality of adult education
throughout the country.
In summary, given the scale of change needed, the
Government’s continuing priority was to expand the flexibility and
supply of core programmes and services for adults, and to concen-

trate supports on those most at risk.
The White Paper developed proposals in relation to the adult
learner in a number of key adult learning sites namely: further edu-
cation, community, workplace, and higher education.
In the Further Education sector, the recommendations in the
White Paper provided for the development of a comprehensive frame-
work for second-chance education for those with less than upper
secondary education via:
• increased investment in adult literacy; 93.45m had already
been indicated for adult literacy under the National Develop-
ment Plan with co-funding from the European Social Fund un-
der the EU Community Support Framework with a view to pro-
viding services by 2006 for some 110,000 adults;
• a Back to Education Initiative (BTEI) which would provide
for the introduction of part-time options under all full-time
programs.
In relation to Community Education, the White Paper pro-
posed:
• the appointment of a national team of Community Educa-
tion Facilitators to be based in the Local Adult Learning Boards
to support the development, maintenance, coordination and
mainstreaming of community education groups;
• exploring through this team of animators the appropriate-
ness of the approaches pioneered within the community-based
women’s groups to other sectors; and
• developing more streamlined, longer-term and diverse fund-
ing channels to community education groups.
In August 2000, skill shortages both in terms of new entrants
to the workforce as well as the skills of those already in the workforce
were proving a major barrier to the sustainable development of the
Irish economy.
The central thrust of the proposals in the White Paper regard-

ing workplace learning was the emergence of the workplace as a learn-
ing site committed to the ongoing development of all its members.
To support such a development, it was proposed to encourage the
development of partnerships of education/training and industry in-
terests advancing such issues as: work placements in higher educa-
tion institutions; modularization of course provision; recognition of
work-based learning for accreditation purposes; and delivery of courses
in the workplace.
The participation levels of mature students in Higher Educa-
tion in Ireland is among the lowest in the OECD countries. The
Programme for Prosperity and Fairness 2000 (Government of Ireland
2000b) set a target for mature student representation in higher
education, viz., 15 percent by 2005. To realize this target, the White
Paper proposed to introduce a targeted higher education mature stu-
dent fund which would increase on a phased basis to at least 12.69
million per annum to enable third-level institutions to make inno-
vative strategic shifts towards adult-friendly policies.
In the White Paper the Government recognised that there were
fundamental foundation blocks that had to be put in place in build-
ing a comprehensive system of adult education within an overall
framework of lifelong learning. In particular these would include
expanded provision for: the training of trainers; a Forum of Adult
Education Practitioners to share good practice and input to policy
developments; new approaches to assessment, accreditation and cer-
tification to be developed through the work of the National Qualifi-
cations Authority of Ireland (NQAI); expanded childcare funding
and research in adult learning through the National Adult Learning
Council.
With regards to structures for adult education, the White Pa-
per proposed two layers in an over-arching structure for Adult Edu-
cation – A National Adult Learning Council (NALC) and, at local
level, Local Adult Learning Boards (LALBs).
The publication of the White Paper on adult education

marked the adoption of lifelong learning as the governing prin-
ciple of educational policy in Ireland. It made an important con-
tribution to informing and enabling the Government to put in
place, for the first time, systematic and comprehensive provision
for lifelong learning and it indicated the official recognition by
the Government of Ireland that its educational commitment now
extended to include not only those in school, college or training,
but also that part of the population which had yet to go to school
and that part which had left the initial education system.
When the White Paper was published, adult education was
the last area of mass education which remained to be developed in
Ireland. It was evident to all adult education stakeholders that it
would require significantly increased investment if adult learning
opportunities were to reach a stage of parity with those in other
countries where adult education systems were more developed.
“Going to the Ball” and “Having a Ball”

Since the publication of the White Paper in August 2000, adult
education in Ireland has gone through a period of unprecedented
development. In addition to developments arising from proposals in
the White Paper, other advances such as the development of the
national qualifications framework by NQAI (National Qualifications
Authority of Ireland) and the establishment of FETAC (Further
Education and Training Awards Council) and HETAC (Higher Edu-
cation and Training Awards Council) in 2001 have contributed sig-
nificantly to the development of adult education in Ireland. For the
sector, it certainly has been the equivalent of “going to the ball” and
“having a ball.”
Overall, it is possible to categorize developments as follows:
a) Development of Structures
The National Adult Learning Council (NALC) was established
by the Minister of State for Adult Education in the Department of

Education and Science in March 2002 to carry out the following
functions indicated in the White Paper:
• promote the coordinated development of adult education and
training provision within an agreed national strategy and policy
framework;
• advise on quality standards; and
• engage in evaluation and research in the field of adult educa-
tion.
Membership of NALC includes representation from a broad
range of interests including social partners, education and training
providers, learners, community and voluntary pillar interests, and
the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland.
The Educational Disadvantage Committee (EDC) was estab-
lished by the Minister for Education and Science in March 2002.
Its purpose is to advise the Minister on policies and strategies to
identify and correct educational disadvantage. Members of the Com-
mittee are drawn from voluntary groups and other bodies which
have particular insights and experience in the area of tackling disad-
vantage. The Committee will advise the Minister on a number of
areas including:
• the creation, co-ordination and implementation of new and
existing initiatives;
• the identification and commissioning of research and evalua-
tion;
• in-career development for teachers and other personnel serv-
ing the needs of those experiencing educational disadvantage;
and
• the development of interdepartmental and inter-agency links
with a view to ensuring greater cohesion among initiatives
catering for educational disadvantage.
Adult education is directly represented in the Educational Dis-

advantage Committee by the Directors of NALA (National Adult
Literacy Agency) and AONTAS (the National Adult Education
Association). The Committee serves to promote the concept of the
systemic approach to adult education as recommended by the White
Paper in that it views adult education as part of the overall education
system and its members are aware that a person’s experience in ini-
tial education has profound implications for her/his attitude to and
readiness to engage in adult learning.
The Further Education Development Unit (FEDU) was es-
tablished by the Department of Education and Science in Septem-
ber 2001 with the aim of coordinating and supporting the intro-
duction of the Back to Education Initiative (BTEI) into adult edu-
cation provision throughout the country. The unit has the services
of two coordinators of further education development who work
closely with the National Coordinators of VTOS, YOUTHREACH,
STTCs, community education and adult literacy. They also work
closely with the managers of adult education provision on the ground
in local VEC areas.
b) The Development of National Qualifications Framework
The Report of the Taskforce on Lifelong Learning published in
October 2002 summed up the significance of recent developments
with regard to qualifications in Ireland thus:
The National Qualifications Framework is of
overarching significance. It has the potential to act
as a powerful tool which maps the learning land-
scape in terms of awards and, through the work of
the Authority (NQAI) and the two new Awarding
and Certifying Councils, brings coherence and trans-
parency to learning provision and outcomes (Gov-
ernment of Ireland 2002).
Historically, difficulties regarding recognition of learning,

credit accumulation and transfer, and progression between learn-
ing programmes have beset adult learners in Ireland. However,

these difficulties began to be addressed in a significant way with
the establishment in 2001 of the new qualifications infrastruc-
ture comprising the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland
(NQAI) and two awarding Councils—the Further Education and
Training Awards Council (FETAC) and the Higher Education
and Training Awards Council (HETAC)—operating under the
statutory remit of the National Qualifications (Education and
Training) Act, 1999.
The Authority’s main task is to establish and maintain a na-
tional framework of qualifications which will include awards made
by a range of national and eventually international bodies. Speaking
about the framework, the NQAI chief executive has declared:
It is the Authority’s goal that the framework will
become the single, nationally and internationally
accepted entity through which all learning achieve-
ments may be measured and related to each other
in a coherent way and which defines the relation-
ship between all education and training awards
(NQAI 2002b).
The Authority will establish the overall standards of adult, fur-

ther and higher education and training awards, other than in the
universities. The Authority also has a key role to play in facilitating
lifelong learning through the promotion of access, transfer and pro-
gression for all learners at all levels of adult, further and higher edu-
cation and training.
Following the publication of a comprehensive discussion docu-
ment in November 2001 (NQAI 2001), the Authority published
further key documents throughout 2002. It has been indicated that
an outline national framework of qualifications including level indi-
cators and award-type descriptors will be published in January 2003,
along with a document outlining policies and procedures to pro-
mote access, transfer and progression.
These developments have been eagerly awaited by adult learn-

ers and adult education stakeholders in general. The significance of
the framework of qualifications (ranging from lower secondary school
qualifications to doctorate level) for the development of transpar-
ency, coordination, coherence and cohesion across the entire adult
learning spectrum under a wide range of Government departments
cannot be overstated. In addition, the unified FETAC and HETAC
accreditation system covering non-university further and higher edu-
cation and training is already beginning to have an impact on par-
ticipation and progression practices among adult learners.
c) Development of Provision
Developments proposed in the White Paper have made a sig-
nificant contribution to the internal development and coordination
of adult learning programmes funded by Department of Education
and Science and delivered locally by the thirty-three Vocational
Education Committees (VECs). The most notable developments have
occurred in literacy provision and in community education.
The development of literacy provision has been growing steadily
since the publication of the White Paper in 2000 and, indeed, from
1997 when the results for Ireland of the OECD International Adult
Literacy Survey were published (Department of Education and Sci-
ence 1997). The two events served to prompt substantial invest-
ment in literacy provision which is illustrated by the following sta-
tistics:-
• a more than ten-fold increase in the adult literacy budget
from £0.85m (1.079 million euros) in 1997 to 16.4 million
euros in 2002;
• an increase in literacy students from 5,000 in 1997 to 22,733
in December 2001, with 70 percent of learners in group
tuition in 731 venues;
• 450 students availing of childcare services and 1,201 stu-
dents availing of guidance services, up from a starting point
of these services not being available to students when the

White Paper was published in 2000.
A continuum of provision from one-to-one voluntary tuition
to group tuition to progression to certified learning options have
been developed since the publication of the White Paper in 2000..
Within this provision, in 2002, one finds family literacy, literacy for
Travellers, literacy for special needs, themed literacy, workplace lit-
eracy, literacy for non-nationals, and literacy as part of social em-
ployment program.
The Department of Education and Science is funding Read
Write Now, a TV literacy awareness and tuition programme devel-
oped by NALA to encourage a mass audience to access help and
support. Series 1 (2000) attracted an average weekly audience of
155,000. Series 2 (2001) attracted an average weekly audience of
235,000 and Series 3 (October - December 2002) was equally suc-
cessful in attracting viewers and responses. In addition, a follow-on
radio series with more basic and intensive levels of tuition was devel-
oped and it was supported—like the TV series—by a freephone
helpline and learner packs.
The Department of Education and Science funds VECs to give
limited support to community education programmes in their local
areas. In 2002, some 4 million euros were spent on community
education and 30,000 learners were catered for.
Community education, particularly in the form of commu-
nity-based women’s groups, has been one of the most dynamic and
distinctive elements of the Adult Education sector in Ireland in re-
cent years. Its self-directed, learner-centered character and its ca-
pacity to reach marginalized women in disadvantaged communities
were described as “particularly noteworthy” by the White Paper on
adult education.
In 2002, Community Education provision has been the sub-
ject of two major developments. The appointment of local Commu-
nity Education Facilitators by VECs was announced by the Depart-
ment of Education and Science in September. They will be respon-

sible for providing support to new and existing community educa-
tion groups in the form of technical, administrative and educational
inputs to community-based women’s groups. In October 2002, in a
second major development, ten percent (10%) of the Back to Edu-
cation Initiative places were opened up to Community Education
providers with the intention of locating them firmly within a major
adult education funding initiative and providing them with extra
resources.
The Back to Education Initiative (BTEI) was introduced by
the Department of Education and Science in May 2002 with the
aim of providing part-time learning opportunities across the adult
education programmes already providing full-time adult learning
opportunities and an expansion of provision in those already provid-
ing part-time learning opportunities. The aim of BTEI is to provide
return-to-learning opportunities for young people (over 15 years of
age) and adults, a re-entry route for those in the workplace who wish
to upgrade their skills in line with emerging needs and, with its
emphasis on part-time provision, the chance to combine a return-
to-education and training with family, work and other responsibili-
ties.
BTEI is considered a major contribution to building the ca-
pacity of the adult education sector to meet the changing needs of
individuals, communities and society. The top priorities of BTEI
are to address:
• the low literacy levels of the Irish adult population;
• the large number of Irish adults (1.1 million, aged 15-64)
who have not completed upper second-level education, of
whom 529,600 have not completed lower second-level;
• the inflexibility of the Irish education system, with its pre-
dominant emphasis on full-time provision, time-specific en-
try and exit opportunities; and
• the challenges of engaging with hard-to-reach groups.

BTEI is costing 6.3 million euros in 2002 and, in the future,
it will cost over 17 million euros for a full year. There are 6,000
places in 2002 and it is planned to expand provision each year so as
to provide 20,000 places on an annual basis by 2006.
As regards quality frameworks, throughout 2002, a FETAC
(Further Education and Training Awards Council) representative
Working Group on Quality Assurance has been involved in the de-
velopment of a quality assurance framework for learning sites seek-
ing FETAC certification for its learners. It is intended that within
the framework, providers will develop and implement policies and
procedures to maintain and improve the quality of their education
and training provision. The key principles which will underpin the
development and implementation of quality assurance in the frame-
work are: learner focus; transparency; consistency; and local respon-
sibility. All providers seeking to offer FETAC certification will be
required to demonstrate their capacity to deliver quality programmes
and services in their own contexts.
In 2001, a member of the Department of Education and Sci-
ence Inspectorate became involved in the inspection of the adult
education programmes funded by the Further Education Section of
the Department of Education and Science. Throughout 2002, the
inspector has familiarized himself with the wide range of adult learning
funded by the Department and visited a number of adult learning
centres. Going beyond the important quality assurance aspects of
this development, the appointment of the inspector has been wel-
comed by adult education stakeholders as an indication of a devel-
oping systemic approach to adult education within the Department
of Education and Science itself, an approach strongly recommended
in the White Paper.
The YOUTHREACH consultative process outlined in the
document YOUTHREACH 2000: A Consultative Process (Stokes
2000) led to the launch of the YOUTHREACH Quality Frame-
work Initiative. The consultative phase of the initiative had taken

place and piloting of the framework will begin in January 2003 in a
number of YOUTHREACH and Senior Traveller Training Centres
(STTCs).
d) Program Supports
The major development under the heading of Programme Sup-
ports in the period 2000-2002 has been the development of the
Adult Educational Guidance Initiative (Department of Education
and Science and the National Centre for Guidance in Education
2002). In early 2000, ten adult guidance services were established
on a pilot basis throughout the country to meet the guidance needs
of participants on VTOS, adult literacy and community education
programmes. Phase 2 with eight more services was added in Au-
tumn 2001 and a third phase of eight further guidance services was
put in place just recently (Autumn 2002). This will bring to twenty-
six the number of local services in place by December 2002. To date
4737 learners have availed of the guidance service provided by the
Phase 1 and 2 services.
The guidance services aim to provide:
• comprehensive information on adult learning opportunities
in an easily accessible way, including a national website of
learning opportunities, updated locally;
• a telephone helpline service as well as ICT information points
in libraries and community education centres;
• training in front-line guidance skills for adult educators;
The provision of childcare for learners continues to expand across
adult education programmes with increasing funding being made
available to providers by the Department of Education and Science
and other Government departments. In 2002, childcare was being
funded for 1672 children of 1338 parents participating in adult
education programmes funded by the Department. However, de-
mand outstrips supply and, in the context of rapidly rising childcare
costs, funding expanded provision will remain a key challenge for

the immediate future.
Happy Ever After?

As this account of adult education policy and provision under
the Department of Education and Science in Ireland in the period
of 2000-2002 draws to a close, it may seem that we have come to
the proverbial “Happy Ever After” stage of the story. However, this
is a modern tale so there is no “Prince Charming” and, for a range of
reasons, there is no fairytale ending. Despite the recent period of
unprecedented development in adult education in Ireland in the
five years since the appointment of the first Minister of State for
Adult Education in 1997, many challenges remain for the adult
education sector in 2002.
The key challenge facing the adult education sector as 2002
draws to a close is the maintenance of the proposals in Learning for
Life: White Paper on Adult Education in a rapidly changing context as
economic slowdown affects Ireland and resources become scarcer
throughout the education system as a whole and, indeed, through-
out the entire economy.
The Report of the Taskforce on Lifelong Learning published last
month (Government of Ireland 2002) welcomes what it terms “the
significant progress” which had been made in the implementation
of the agenda set out in the White Paper on adult education.
But, the report identifies a number of key challenges facing adult
learning policymakers and providers at the end of 2002. For example,
notwithstanding the advances made through the Adult Education
Guidance Initiative (AEGI) of Department of Education and Science,
the report of the Taskforce draws attention to the fact that the “key
issue” it identified in relation to guidance and information was “lack
of coherence, with no single portal or point of contact through which
learners can easily access information on (all) the opportunities open
to them.” The report makes a number of suggestions for joint actions

by various Government departments for the development of an inte-
grated strategy for the promotion of coordinated responses to the guid-
ance needs of adult learners in all learning sites.
The Report of the Taskforce on Lifelong Learning also pays atten-
tion to the issue of co-ordination and coherence within and between
adult learning provision funded by a range of Government depart-
ments. It warns of the need to avoid “fragmentation of effort (which)
could significantly inhibit the achievement of the vision and strate-
gic framework” for lifelong learning set out in its report. It calls for
continued and enhanced cooperation and coordination of adult learn-
ing provision between the Department of Education and Science
and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, two
Government departments with leading policy and funding roles in
relation to adult learning. The report also underlines the belief of
the Taskforce that policy in relation to all of the sectors under the
Department of Education and Science—primary, secondary, further
and higher education—must be driven by “the lifelong learning
imperative.” This recommendation echoes and reinforces the call in
the White Paper for a systemic approach to adult education whereby
it is viewed as an integral part of the education system—a develop-
ment on which, as has also been seen, some progress has been made
since the White Paper was published.
A more general review of the “state of play” at the end of 2002
gives an indication of other on-going challenges facing adult educa-
tion policy makers, funders and providers. The “rolling out” of the
new national structures for adult education in the form of the Na-
tional Adult Learning Council will be a key challenge in 2003 and
the establishment of the Local Adult Learning Boards is a more long-
term challenge. National and local structures need to be in place if
adult education policy and provision are to be developed as envis-
aged in the White Paper.
The embedding of the NQAI’s national qualifications frame-
work is a key challenge for 2003 and adult education stakeholders

will have a major interest in the long-awaited proposals for the ac-
creditation of prior certificated and, more especially, prior experien-
tial learning.
An immediate challenge for adult education policymakers and
providers is the need to enhance the professionalism of the adult
education service through the development of specific pre-service
courses for prospective practitioners and the recognition for con-
tractual recognition of the qualifications gained through such courses.
The welcome afforded the Back to Education Initiative (BTEI)
is convincing proof of the need for enhanced flexibility in adult edu-
cation provision in Ireland, especially in terms of additional funded
part-time provision. The role of ICTs and e-learning in adult educa-
tion must also be explored in the interests of increased flexibility.
Learning supports such as tutorial services, childcare and eld-
erly care must continue to be expanded if the goal of reaching the
hard-to-reach is to be achieved over the next four years to the end of
the National Development Plan 2000-2006.
The development of an interculturalism approach to the grow-
ing diversity of adult education participants is a matter of urgency
and the steps taken in 2001 and 2002 must be built upon educa-
tion to respond adequately to the ongoing and more recent chal-
lenges presented by the diversity of adult education participants.
Enhanced adult access to higher education on the grounds of
mature years has long been a key goal of adult education stakehold-
ers in Ireland. The immediate challenge for them is to influence how
this demographic ‘dividend’ will be mangaged by the Department
of Education and Science, the Higher Education Authority (HEA)
and higher education institutions and how the institutions will re-
spond to the learning needs of mature students. The long-term chal-
lenge for the adult education sector is reshape the concept of higher
education student so that it comes to include, as a matter of course,
adults as well as school leavers—along the lines suggested as urged
by Skilbeck in his influential report on higher education in Ireland

(Skilbeck 2001).
The development, expansion and support of existing quality
frameworks and the development of additional internal quality frame-
works for the remaining adult education programs are the main chal-
lenges for 2003 and beyond.
Clearly, by any measure, much has been done to advance the
development of adult education provision in Ireland since the publi-
cation of the White Paper, but, as has also been seen, much remains to
be done as contexts evolve. The challenges of living in rapidly chang-
ing and increasingly complex environments drive the demand for adult
learning opportunities within a lifelong learning framework. The Re-
port of the Taskforce on Lifelong Learning has been welcomed by adult
educators throughout the country. The report is seen as supporting
and reinforcing the recommendations on adult education policy, fund-
ing and provision set out in Learning for Life: White Paper on Adult
Education. Arising from the developments that have occurred since
1997, adult education policymakers, providers, practitioners and, above
all, adult learners are emboldened to expect that, no matter what con-
tractions in resources occur in the immediate and more distant future,
adult education will never return to its not-so-recent position as the
“cinderella” of the education system. The stakeholders believe that
adult education should not need the special favor of a “fairy godmother”
to get its rightful allocation of resources as a key aspect, if not the key
aspect, of lifelong learning policy and provision, and as a major strand
of the Irish Government’s economic and social inclusive strategies.
Furthermore, the stakeholders hope that adult education will con-
tinue in the immediate and longer-term future to “have a ball,” even
if not quite as lavish as in the last five years.
References
Department of Education and Science. 2002a. Educational Disadvan-
taged Committee – Information Leaflet. Dublin: author.
__________. 2002b. Back to Education Initiative (Part-time) – Informa-
tion Pack. Dublin: author.
__________. 2000. Learning for Life: White Paper on Adult Education.
Dublin: Stationery Office.
__________. 1999. Ready to Learn: White Paper on Early Childhood
Education. Dublin: Stationery Office.
__________. 1998. Green Paper on Adult Education: Adult Education in
an Era of Lifelong Learning. Dublin: Stationery Office.
__________. 1997 International Adult Literacy Survey: Results for Ire-
land – Education 2000. Dublin: Stationery Office.
Department of Education and Science and National Centre for Guid-
ance in Education. 2002. Adult Educational Guidance Initiative –
Information Leaflet. Dublin: authors.
Government of Ireland. 2002. Report of the Taskforce on Lifelong Learn-
ing. Dublin: Stationery Office.
__________. 2000a. National Employment Action Plan, 2000. Dublin:
Stationery Office.
__________. 2000b. The Programme for Prosperity and Fairness. Dublin:
Stationery Office.
__________. 1999a. Ireland: National Development Plan, 2000-2006.
Dublin: Stationery Office.
__________. 1999b. National Employment Action Plan, 1999. Dublin:
Stationery Office.
__________. 1998. National Employment Action Plan, 1998. Dublin:
Stationery Office.
__________. 1997. International Adult Literacy Survey – Results for Ire-
land. Dublin: Stationery Office.
Kiely, G. 2002. “The situation of families in Ireland 1996-2001,”
www.ucd.ie. Consulted 31st May 2002.
Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte. 2002. NETA: What Are
We Doing in Adult Education? Madrid: author.
NQAI (National Qualifications Authority of Ireland). 2001. Towards a
Framework of Qualifications. Dublin: author.

__________. 2002a. Towards a National Framework of Qualifications—
Establishment of Policies and Criteria. Dublin: author.
__________. 2002b. “Discussion Paper on how to include Professional
and International Awards in the National Framework of Qualifica-
tions,” Press Release, 14th May.
__________. 2002c. Towards a National Framework of Qualifications—
Policies, Criteria and Level Indicators, Established by the Authority,
October 2002. Dublin: author.
Skilbeck, M. 2001. The University Challenged, A Review of International
Trends and Issues with Particular Reference to Ireland. Dublin: Higher
Education Authority.
Stokes, D. 2000. ed. YOUTHREACH 2000: A Consultative Process,
Dublin: National YOUTHREACH Office.
Adult Education in Serbia:
Challenges of Reform
Snezana Medic and Katarina Popovic*
Y ugoslavia has undergone great historical, military, political, and

economic events. Hence, 10-15 years of history do not repre-
sent a large amount of time but for adult education it is the period
in which a significant change in its theory and practice took place.
The disintegration of Yugoslavia (started in 1991) has brought
about changes in every aspect of life, with no personal or social activ-
ity left untouched. School, culture and education were faced with
the task of restructuring the content of the curriculum and accom-
modating the new political and geographic conditions while trying
slowly to change their original ideological orientation. The war on
the territory of the former Yugoslavia (1991-1994) and the sanc-
tions that the international community imposed on Serbia and
Montenegro, have curtailed further the field of adult education in
two ways:
• By impoverishing the population, thus, compelling it to work
for its very existence, and reducing the significance of educa-
*Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade,Serbia.

tion in the personal and social system of values;

• By greatly diminishing contacts and cooperation with for-
eign countries, which had been very developed in former Yu-
goslavia, as a source for information, ideas, academic exchange
and professional opportunities.
Big political changes in 2002 are likely to mark the end of this
difficult period, but the consequences are serious and long lasting,
demanding interventions in all fields. Special efforts have to be ex-
erted to cover all important areas, to correct or compensate what has
been missed, and to recover or reestablished what has been destroyed.
So, important and radical social reforms started over a year ago, and
education is viewed as a very important means of effecting these
radical social changes. Comprehensive reforms started in all areas of
education and at all levels, but not with the same approach and
intensity. The main strategic mistake committed concerns the list of
priority. These reforms are concentrated on schools, the formal sys-
tem of education and youth. There is a lack of awareness of the need
for new foundations for systems of adult education to be laid and an
awareness that the democratization and decentralization of educa-
tion entails a lot more than simply changing ways of school manage-
ment, and that adult education is not an individual’s private matter
or a means of extinguishing a social fire caused by the dismissal of
employees.
Main Problems
The remaining serious obstacles for reforms in this field are:
• Negative policy towards adult education. Adult education is not
treated as a strategically significant economic and social de-
velopment factor. In the country’s process of policymaking,
education has been identified with schooling. This means that
the state has desisted from providing systemic solutions to
adult education. It has greatly diverted its interest from this
A DULT EDUCATION IN SERBIA / S. MEDIC AND K. POPOVIC 133
field, focusing its concerns solely on schools, i.e. on formal

education. Education and learning in adult life are treated as
a matter of personal interest.
• Restrictive financial policy. Budgetary financing of adult edu-
cation was reduced to such a low level that both the adult
education system and national interests in this field are jeop-
ardized. The state conducts a generally restrictive and non-
selective tax policy towards adult education as taxes are im-
posed not on formal education, but only on the non-formal
sector. Further on, the state has abandoned financing adult
education almost completely and its duties might soon be
limited to financing elementary education only.
• Lack of legal regulations and standards. Although there are no
laws on adult education, this field is currently covered by the
laws of elementary, intermediate and high schools, higher
education, law of enterprises, law of employment, law on
NGOs, etc. This diffusion is not a bad thing in itself because
it enables different sectors of society to respond to their own
educational needs, but when the reason for this is social in-
difference and neglect, the outcome may discourage corpora-
tions and individuals who are prepared to take the initiative.
Another consequence is that adult education is mostly self-
financed, or sponsored by the forms or enterprises directly
interested in it, and thus left to the market and commercial
rules.
• Lack of adult education unit in the state administration structure.
There is no special body at governmental level dealing with
adult education; there is not a single segment of the state
administration, regardless of the sector or level which caters
to adult education.
• Shattered system of adult education institutions. The events in
previous period (war, poverty, isolation), the contemporary
lack of social care and interest for adult education has led to a
reduction or complete change of program activities in this
field, as well as to the disbandment of many relevant institu-
tions and forms of adult education.
• Personnel issue in adult education: A large number of people
are engaged in adult education in the most diverse types of
organizations and institutions. However, despite being in pos-
session of their primary professional knowledge, these people
lack appropriate andragogical, didactic and methodological
knowledge and skills, indispensable for such work, which
means that one of the basic prerequisites for quality adult
education provision, is missing. The institutional framework
for training and continuing education does not exist for this
category, nor is there a clearly defined set of standards for this
field of activity.
• Lack of systemic adult education monitoring. There is no sys-
tematic insight in the field of adult education—no monitor-
ing of data on institutions, programs, students and teachers.
In the past few years, the Federal Statistics Office practically
stopped keeping records on adult education, as a statistical
and social category. Furthermore, no professional institutions
and organisations have this sort of data.
There is a clear need for adult education in the society, but
little determination in the political system to identify and respond
to it, and provide financial support. Consequently, diverse institu-
tions, associations and activities are emerging to fill this gap in a
non-systematic manner. There is keen competition among them,
which in turn creates the need for establishing criteria for quality
control. One possible outcome is greater development in the field of
professional education and training. A question remains, however,
about the manner in which these institutions will develop towards
specialization in certain fields of adult education or towards making
a more general provision. Another issue is the extent to which these

newly emerging forms of adult education can obtain legitimacy. The
field of adult education is also marked by reorientation in content
and method, the prevalence of commercial programs, the emergence
of completely new providers, and the growing role of the private
sector and individual initiative, with lack of long-term planning.
The larger and different responsibilities for adult education,
which Serbia should accept, must derive on the one hand, from the
standards for education in democratic societies in Europe, and on
the other hand, responsive to the current poor educational levels of
adult citizens who are expected to actively participate in the reform
process.
Although there is a lack of overall and profound reforms in
whole adult education area, there are some priority areas:
• Functional basic adult education (taking into account the high
illiteracy rate, especially among the unemployed)
• Vocational education and training (because of its importance
for the transition, and the restructuring of the economy and
labor marker orientation)
• Developing models of active employment
• Developing centers for continuing vocational education
• Education for democratic participation (which should provide
sustainability of democratic orientation)
• Education of elderly people (as numerous, but mostly neglected
social group)
Some other important areas are: program development in adult
education, development of critical thinking, family and parent edu-
cation, and environmental education.
Strategic Measures
The set of strategic measures to overcome problems as earlier
mentioned and to satisfy urgent needs of the field are:
1) Establishing professional bodies and institutions:

• National Council or Adult Education Committee which
is responsible for developing long-term strategy and tak-
ing care of adult education policy
• Andragogical Center (Adult Education Center), being
in charge for developing standards and quality assurance
• Center for Training and Further Education of Adult Edu-
cators, offering permanent pre-service and in-service train-
ing for personnel in adult education
2) Creating some basic documents:
• The National Program of adult education (defining pri-
orities, policy and strategy)
• Legislation of adult education (one or more laws)
• Developing standard and norms (for institutions, pro-
grams and adult educators, evaluation)
3) Financial regulation: defining sources and procedures for
financing adult education (public and/or other funds)
4) Developing infrastructure in adult education:

• Revitalization of adult learning institutions and their
networking
• Defining status of adult education institutions (legal-
financial and social-professional)
• Equipping adult education institutions
• Implementing the new conception of work
• Developing and applying new programs
5) Training and continuing education of adult educators in
• New, modern programs and curricula
• Modern methods in adult teaching
6) Other important measures:
• Raising awareness about adult education and develop-
ing lifelong learning philosophy

• promotion of social partnership concept
• international cooperation and coordination in the field
of adult education
Education for All

For two years the educational reforms were concentrated on
the school system, considering curricular reform and teacher train-
ing as the most important issues. Latest social and economical devel-
opments show that these are not enough and that more investments
in adult education are necessary to meet the emerging needs of the
country in transition. New involvement in the processes of Euro-
pean integration and international cooperation also led to a new
definition of priorities and to some new efforts aimed at creating
flexible, open education system, which is more focused on learning
itself and broadening the provision for it. One of the most impor-
tant steps is accepting the recommendations of World Education
Forum and commitments made in Dakar. For that purpose, at the
end of 2002, the Serbian National Forum for Education for All
(NAFOS) was established. From the six main goals of the Dakar
Frame of Action, the Forum chose two to be prior national goals:
• Expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood
care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and
disadvantaged children; and
• Achieving a 50 percent improvement in levels of adult lit-
eracy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to
basic and continuing education for all adults.
The choice of adult literacy and basic education can be ex-
plained by taking into account some significant facts and figures:
• A great number of fully illiterate adult population (10 per-
cent);
• A great number of adults with uncompleted (8 years) pri-

mary education (24 percent);
• Low qualifications of the employed (25 percent of unquali-
fied and half qualified);
• Low qualifications of the unemployed (38 percent of un-
qualified and half qualified);
• There is no equal access to adult education; the system of
formal education is not open to the adult population and
provides significantly low quality of knowledge;
• Actually, the current system of basic adult education is ori-
ented towards children belonging to marginalized groups,
and children with learning difficulties (drop out);
• There is no national strategy and public funds for adult edu-
cation;
• There are no adequate institutional and program possibilities
and approaches for literacy campaigns and basic adult educa-
tion.
Table 1. Serbian Population According to the Primary Level of Education
1981 1991
Illiterate 13.7 9.5

From I - III grade of primary school 3.6 2.9
From IV-VIII grade of primary school 26.8 20.5
Accomplisched primary school 24.2 25.2
68.3 58.1
The commission of the National Forum for Education for All

which is going to deal with these issues consists of experts coming
from different professional fields. They have formulated several ob-
jectives in this field which should enable the achievement of the

fourth DAKAR goal:
1) To enable real access to literacy courses and programs of ba-
sic education for all categories of the adult population;
2) To enhance the level of literacy and the proportion of the
adult population that completed basic education;
3) To bring the quality of adult education in line with the level
of general quality standards for children education; and
4) To integrate primary education and basic professional edu-
cation on structural and program basis (functional basic edu-
cation).
To achieve these objectives, the following steps are necessary:
1) To design a national plan, i.e. the policy paper for resolving
problems in the field of literacy and basic adult education
by 2015. It should include:
• Making a priority list of targeted groups,
• Defining the scope of implementation, i.e. action,
• Identifying a time frame for implementation,
• Defining regional dimensions of implementation, and
• Determining a price based on the cost of production, for
overall program implementation and for its separate seg-
ments.
2) Identifying major target groups that need elementary lit-
eracy and basic education:
• Developing adequate methodology for the identification
of illiteracy level, and
• Determining the scope and the structure of illiteracy
including the persons with incomplete primary educa-
tion.
3) Setting up literacy and primary education programs and
modules for various target groups (women, population from
rural areas, the unemployed, the employed, drop out, the

aged, marginalized groups etc), such as:
• Programs of mastering elementary literacy skills;
• Programs of family literacy;
• Basic education; and
• Functional basic education.
4) Establishing financial mechanisms for literacy programs and
basic adult education programs;
5) In-service training for teachers on diverse literacy programs
and programs of basic adult education.
This encompassing and demanding plan requires involvement
and cooperation of social partners in all fields and of all levels. Just
the real commitment of the most important players, far beyond simple
undersigning international documents and verbal support, serving
daily political needs, with concrete financial commitments made by
national government, can create a framework for these serious tasks.
No palliative measures or those with short-term effects can be ac-
cepted for this purpose. The achievement of the goal and sustainability
of results can be assured if there is a multi-level, differentiated and
coordinated engagement of policymakers, experts, providers and rep-
resentatives of diverse target groups. Managed thus, lifelong learn-
ing can become more than a part of society belonging to some social
groups, but an activating philosophy of education and ways of liv-
ing.
References
Commission of the European Communities. 2000. Memorandum on
Lifelong Learning, Brussels.
Despotovic, M., 2000. “Obrazovanje odraslih u Jugoslaviji - stanje i
perspektive,” (Adult education in Yugoslavia - current situation
and perspectives) in Popoviæ, Katarina A.O. eds. Obrazovanje
odraslih u Jugoslaviji - stanje i perspektive. Društvo za obrazovanje
odraslih i IIZ/DVV, Beograd.
Despotovic, D., Popovic, K. and Pejatovic, A. 2003. “Allgemeinbildung
und Berufsbildung in Jugoslawien – Historische Entwicklung und

der heutige Stand,” in Lechner, E. (Hrsg.), Allgemeinbildung und
Berufsbildung in Europa im 20.Jahrhundert, Klagenfurt.
Medic, S., Despotovic, D., Popovic, K., Milanovic, M. 2002. “Strateski
pravci razvoja obrazovanja odraslih (Adult education development
strategy),” in Kvalitetno obrazovanje za sve put ka razvijenom drustvu,
Ministarstvo prosvete i sporta Republike Srbije, Beograd.
Medic, S., Pejatovic, A. 1998. “Contemporary opportunities for adult
education in Yugoslavia,” in The Role and Organisation of Adult
Education in the Period of Transition, Abstr. In Association of Esto-
nian Adult Educators, Tallin.
Samolovcev, B. 1991. “Adult education in Yugoslavia in decisive critical
situations from 1941 to the present time,” in F. Poeggeler and K.
Yaron (eds), Adult Education in Crisis Situation. Jerusalem: The
Magness Press, The Hebrew University.
World Education Forum. 2000. The Dakar Framework for Action, Educa-
tion for All, Meeting Our Collective Commitments. Dakar.
New Lines and Dimensions for the
Adult Education Policy of Finland*
Background
I n Finland, the system for financing vocational further training

(upper secondary non-tertiary / ISCED), which is mainly intended
for adults, has been overhauled twice during the past five years. At
the time of the last reform, the funding of vocational further train-
ing for adults fell by half from 1997 to 2001. In connection with
this reform, Parliament also required that a committee largely com-
posed of Member of the Parliament (MPs) be set up to deliberate
the aims and financing of adult education and training as a whole, as
well as to explore ways to match demand and supply. In March
2001, the Ministry of Education appointed such an Adult Educa-
tion Committee, which submitted its report to the Minister of Edu-
cation and Science in February 2002. The Committee, which was
chaired by Permanent Secretary Markku Linna (Ministry of Educa-
*Abstract of the Report of the Adult Education and Training Commit-

tee 2002. It is also found in http://www.minedu.fi/aikuiskoulutusneuvosto/
adult_edu_council/index.html.
tion) and composed of representatives of the major Parliamentary

groups, was assisted by a large number of experts. Understanding its
mandate broadly, the Committee outlined an adult education and
training strategy, and major actions up to 2010. In its work the
Committee used various sources of information, notably the OECD
Thematic Review on Finnish Adult Education Policy.
Social Developments Influencing

Adult Education Strategy
Finnish society is facing a major structural change. Like many
European countries, Finland has a rapidly graying population, ow-
ing to the relative growth in the number of people over 55 years of
age. The reason for this is that the post-war generation is much larger
than the subsequent age groups. In the labor market, this graying
will result in the difficulty of replacing exit due to the retirement of
the large age groups.
Another important factor for the structural change is that, al-
though the level of education has been constantly growing among
the Finnish adult education, the increase in education and training
has not been evenly distributed among all population groups. This
has resulted in a significant difference in the level of education be-
tween older and younger generations. As regards secondary qualifi-
cations, there is a particularly large difference between the age brackets
55-64 and 45-54. About half of the population over 55 years of age
and about one third in the 45-54 age bracket are untrained. In
younger age groups, 84 percent of young men and 87 percent of
young women have at least upper secondary qualifications. This dis-
parity is seen in the labor market as larger jobless rates in the older,
less trained age groups.
In Finland—as elsewhere in Europe—there will be clear changes
in labor demand over the next ten years. Demand will grow in knowl-
edge-intensive fields and fall in manufacturing and construction.
This change makes special demands on the education and training
NEW LINES AND DIMENSIONS FOR THE ADULT EDUCATION ... / M. ROPPONEN 145
provision, including adult education. A retiring person cannot nec-

essarily be replaced by a person with the same level of training, often
higher and more versatile training will be needed. This in turn will
mean that competence requirements will rise.
Growing use of information and communications technology
and the provision of many services on the internet require new kinds
of skills from citizens, which will add to training pressures. In the
case of young people, this can be remedied through the develop-
ment of education and training, but as regards adults, it will require
a number of special measures, the most crucial of which will fall on
adult education and training. Adult education must also advance
citizenship skills, social cohesion and learning capabilities more
widely. Liberal adult education in particular has an important role
to play in preventing various social problems and exclusion.
Finns are active adult learners. According to a study made in
2000, 54 percent of the population between 16 and 64 participated
in adult education and training. However, there are significant dif-
ferences in participation rates between different population groups
and different parts of the country. Only 37 percent of people with
only compulsory schooling pursued adult studies, while the corre-
sponding figure among the graduate population was 76 percent.
And similarly, 64 percent of employed persons and only 37 percent
of the unemployed participated in adult education and training.
Adult Education Strategy and Major Policy Lines

According to the Adult Education Committee, adult educa-
tion and training will be built on four principles in the future:
• Self-improvement will form part of the lives of a growing
number of citizens, as work communities evolve towards learn-
ing organizations.
• Adult education and training will provide trained work force
for all job categories and all vocations and professions.
• Adult education and training will develop teaching and learn-

ing methods and content, providing quality opportunities
for people to develop themselves.
• Adult education and training will maintain and strengthen
participatory democracy, prevent exclusion and support ac-
tive citizenship.
The idea underpinning this line of action is a policy built on
the principle of lifelong learning and designed to offer opportuni-
ties for all adults to study according to their life situations and needs.
On the other hand, the strategy also recognizes the value of non-
formal education and stresses the need to make informal learning
visible.
The concrete proposals fall into three parts: an adult education
development program; measures improving conditions for adult learn-
ing; and the development of adult education financing and steering.
Adult Education Development Program

The impetus for measures to maintain and upgrade the adult
population’s knowledge level comes from changes in the occupa-
tional structure and in the level of education and training; and
subsequent pressure for change. The level of education among the
adult population will rise significantly with the exit of the large,
poorly trained age groups by 2010. This is why adult education
and training will increasingly be targeted at further training and
higher education. On the other hand, it is seen that employees
need more upgrading and updating. To this end, the committee
proposes that all adults should have opportunities for exhaustive
upgrading every 10 to 15 years, as well as for 1-2 weeks of self-
development every year. Since these quantitative targets require an
increase in the overall volume of adult education and training, it is
proposed that adult education funding be raised by 20-25 percent
from the 2002 level.
Young Finns’ education is of a fairly high level, whereas the

older generations have clearly less education and training. But there
is also a fairly large group of younger adults who lack upper second-
ary training. In order to raise the level of education of poorly trained
adults, the Committee proposes a separate action program geared to
offer people aged between 30 and 54 opportunities to study for a
vocational qualification. This program is planned for the period 2003-
2007 and would offer 16,000-24,000 study places annually. Part of
the resources will be allocated to education for information society
skills. One major objective would be to enhance the productivity of
the adult population by means of education and training in order to
provide for the exit of the large groups, for the ageing of the labor
force and for the skewed development in the number of people need-
ing care in relation to the working-age population.
With a view to motivating adults to study and to improve their
learning capacities, the program will include various supportive
measures, such as the provision of different blocks of general educa-
tion in support of vocational studies. Similarly, the financial aid
scheme for adult students will be developed. Another measure in
support of the program is to facilitate studies during unemploy-
ment with an increase in the labor market training resources and
more possibilities for people receiving unemployment benefits to
pursue self-motivated studies. In Finland, the latter is possible only
within a special system of training allowance intended for the un-
employed, in which the terms are very rigorous. The Committee
proposes that these terms be relaxed.
The Committee also wants to promote citizenship skills and
the civil society, social equality and democracy and prevent exclu-
sion by means of adult education and training. In this, eyes turn to
liberal adult education institutions, which arose from civil society
and have a strong tradition in promoting democracy and empower-
ment. Wishing to support empowerment, the development of adults’
learning skills and the acquisition of knowledge and skills needed in
everyday life (e.g., IT skills), the Committee proposes that part of

the current liberal education supply be reallocated according to lines
to be jointly determined by the Ministry of Education and educa-
tion providers.
Support to Adults’ Learning

With a view to creating favorable conditions for adult learn-
ing, the Committee pays special attention to information and advi-
sory services, new learning environments and virtual learning, teach-
ers’ and educators’ competence, and the recognition of knowledge
and competence.
In the development of advisory services, the Committee stresses
their role in encouraging the least motivated people and people with
poor learning skills to participate in adult education and training.
The purpose is to develop advisory services in close cooperation be-
tween educational and labor authorities and education and training
providers. The Finnish Broadcasting Company also has an impor-
tant part in this work, virtual learning will be promoted through the
development of virtual teaching and virtual pedagogy. The aim is to
make quality provision geared to the learners’ life situations compre-
hensively available at all educational levels and in all fields.
To ensure the recognition of learning and competencies, Fin-
land has developed a fairly effective system of competence-based ex-
aminations. For this purpose the programs of further vocational quali-
fications are composed of modules. The qualification is awarded when
all the modules have been taken. The candidate can take the con-
stituent tests either after formal training or without training, on the
strength of competence gained elsewhere, e.g., in working life. The
tests are based on national standardized field-specific qualification
guidelines. The Committee proposes a project for developing the
assessment and recognition of competence in the Finnish education
system as a whole.
Steering and Funding of Adult Education and Training

Finland has a comprehensive network of institutions providing
adult education and training. This is because adult education and
training can be provided by all institutions, including those not
specializing in adult education. The Committee sees that this kind
of decentralized system provides a good basis for further develop-
ment. At the same time, the Committee wishes to stress the special
features of adult learning by highlighting the importance of a stable
resource base for specialized adult education organizations and the
special pedagogical needs in adult education. The provision and steer-
ing of adult education can be seen to constitute an entity which can
also be examined separately from young people’s education and train-
ing. In this way, its planning, resources and development will re-
spond to the educational needs and age structure of the adult popu-
lation, changes in society and the occupational structure, and re-
gional industrial and labor policies.
In view of this, the Committee wanted to examine forms of
education and training particularly geared to adults separately as
regards both steering and provision. The proposed measures differ
according to the level of education. The proposals range from more
specific training missions for providers to the development of man-
agement by target outcome. It is also proposed that the status of
adult vocational education centers and private national training in-
stitutes be determined more rigorously and that their prerequisites
be secured.
The results obtained and the proposals put forward by the adult
education Committee are extensive. The report approaches Finnish
adult education and training from a new angle. The foremost objec-
tive is to translate lifelong learning into concrete action and to se-
cure opportunities for all adults to learn and study, irrespective of
their basic education, their employment status, their place of resi-
dence or their age. The objective is ambitious, partly requiring sig-
nificant increases in adult education and training resources and in-
novative openings in the development of virtual learning and in the

recognition of learning. One major challenge is to develop a new
kind of system for qualifying and steering adult education and train-
ing provision. The cost effects are also considerable. The Commit-
tee proposes an increase of 146 million euros in adult education
financing by 2010. This would mean that the overall adult educa-
tion expenditure would grow from the present sum of 607 million
euros to about 752 million euros. In order for these financing tar-
gets to be realized, the Committee proposes a broader financing base
and a clearer division of financing responsibilities in adult educa-
tion and training.
The Role of NGOs in Adult Education:
The Croatian Example
Damir Matkovic*
I want to thank the organizers for letting the non-governmental or-

ganizations like us participate in this conference in order for us to
understand the current situation in adult education and set the goals
and objectives for the future.
I am addressing you on behalf of the Croatian Association for
the Education of Adults, which is the only, national, key association
of adult education institutions in Croatia. It was founded in 1954,
since then has been continuously active. The Croatian Association
for the Education of Adults has been a member of EAEA since 1996.
Its members are People’s Open Universities, which are adult educa-
tion institutions founded in Croatia at the beginning of 20th cen-
tury, and based on the Grundtvig Folk High School.
The People’s Open Universities have accepted the concept
of lifelong learning as the bottom line of their work. Through
educational, arts and entertainment activities, they offer various
*President, Croatian Association for the Education of Adults.

types of formal, non-formal and informal learning for people of

any age.
The lifelong learning concept is the basis for the study Adult
Education Institute Development Model, which was published last
year by the Croatian Association for the Education of Adults, with
the help of IIZ/DVV.
It should be stressed that the Croatian Association for the Edu-
cation of Adults has, over the last few years, published the integral
versions of CONFINTEA Declaration and Agenda for the Future,
The European Council Memorandum on Life Long Learning and
the Dakar Declaration Education for All translated to Croatian. These
documents were published in the Adult Education journal.
One of the conclusions of the national discussion on Memo-
randum on Lifelong Learning, organized by the Croatian Associa-
tion for Adult Education and the Parliament Committee for Educa-
tion, Science and Culture, was the necessity of preparing a law on
adult education. This year we are taking this initiative further.
Unfortunately, neither the Croatian Association for Adult Edu-
cation, nor its members, qualify for government or local grants, which
means they are financed by the market demand only.
As far as we could, we have improved the quality and the tools
used in our courses. The Croatian Parliament passed the Law on People’s
Open Universities in 1997, following the Association’s initiative.
Our initiative for VAT exemption was partially accepted. So,
since 2000, programs verified by the Ministry for Education and
Sports have been exempted from paying VAT.
The Amendments to High School Education reflect our initia-
tives for open and flexible adult education design. Other important
requirements are that the skills the trainees already have should be
taken into consideration, and the people creating the programs should
make curricula which closely follow the attendant’s requirements.
The Croatian Association for the Education of Adults has since
1995 been organizing the yearly course “Croatian Andragogic Sum-
THE ROLE OF NGOS IN ADULT EDUCATION... / D. MATKOVIC 153
mer Academy”, with the purpose of training teachers and Heads of

Institutes. The main topics have been:
• Adult education in the modern age—the achievements of
Central and Eastern European countries,
• Adults And Their Right To Learning was the 1996 topic,
anticipating CONFINTEA V,
• Education for human rights, democracy and peace
• Education of Homeland War veterans—the key of the devel-
opment of Croatian economy
• Language learning
• Education for small business owners—new andragogic chal-
lenge and others.
Since 1995, the Croatian Andragogic Summer Academy offers
a workshop on non-traditional teaching methods, whose participants
are adult education institution teachers and a few teachers from other
institutions, e.g. high schools. Last year, a teacher’s manual was pub-
lished with help from IIZ/DVV.
However, Croatia has an Act regulating teacher training in El-
ementary and High Schools and Boarding Schools, but not in adult
education institutions. This means that the Croatian Andragogic
Summer Academy is not legally recognized as such.
Another issue is the lack of a continuous teacher training sys-
tem, which we have pointed out for several times at various relevant
occasions, but without any material results. Therefore, we have started
a project—the preparation of a study on the basis of which we will
address the Ministry of Science and ask for approval to run a teacher
training program in the Andragogic Center. Our colleagues from
the countries we cooperate with are already familiar with this idea.
We have been suggesting that this program could be realized at an
international institution. Some of our older European colleagues are
familiar with the Summer and Winter Andragogic School, which
had been organized for 28 years in the Andragogic Center Zagreb.
This initiative could resurrect it in a way.

Unfortunately, Croatia does not have the statistics on adult
education, and in spite of the wide range of adult education courses,
which we learn about from various sources, it is hard to talk about
the realistic situation in adult education in Croatia, that is, if we
want to know about the statistics of institutions, programs, atten-
dance, teachers, evaluation etc. That is why the Croatian Association
for Adult Education has urged the Croatian Institute for Statistics to
begin keeping such statistical records. The initiative was welcome,
but it will be very difficult to make it happen in the near future
without international help.
A great gap continues to exist in the research and development
due to the lack of such projects. This way, it is hard to talk about the
educational requirements of adults.
The Croatian Association for Adult Education has organized the
first Lifelong Learning Week in Croatia in cooperation with IIZ/DVV.
The Week was organized from 13th to 20th May in nine cities and
municipalities around Croatia. It comprised 84 different learning ac-
tivities and ended with a central ceremony in Zagreb, when awards
and prizes were given to the best trainees, teachers and partners. The
week was held under the sponsorship of the President of Croatia, Mr
Stjepan Mesiæ. The LLL Week’s focus were not only the new basic
skills for all ages of learning, but also preserving the cultural heritage,
education for human rights and democracy, employment, hobbies,
programs for the elderly, professional improvements etc.
Dr Hermann Lange, President of the PISA study council for
Germany has presented the PISA research results, which is very im-
portant for Croatia, considering that the formulation of a strategy of
the educational system is under way. This was facilitated by the
Ministry of Education and Sports and the Croatian Association for
Adult Education.
The importance of the document on the strategy of the educa-
tional system is that adult education was for the first time declared
THE ROLE OF NGOS IN ADULT EDUCATION... / D. MATKOVIC 155
an integral part of the educational system as a whole and is based on

the concept of lifelong learning.
The development of information and communication technol-
ogy will certainly greatly influence types of learning and education,
but the institutional frame for learning conditions is still dominant.
That is why the Croatian Association for Adult Education has started
the project The Development of Adult Education Model for Sus-
tainable Development of Mid-Dalmatia Islands, with the intention
of creating favorable conditions for education in places where they
are non-existent. The project got the support of the Ministry of Re-
construction, Construction and Public Works and IIZ/DVV. That is
how four new educational institutions for adult education were cre-
ated and two more are underway.
As we can see from this overview, IIZ/DVV made possible a
whole range of activities. The Croatian Association has been cooper-
ating with the German Association for Adult Education for more
than 30 years and for the last 10 years with IIZ/DVV. So, naturally,
IIZ/DVV has chosen the Croatian Association for the Education of
Adults to be its partner in the project The Contribution to the Sta-
bility of South-Eastern Europe through improving local and regional
adult education structures—The Stability Pact.
The Project is extremely important for Croatia, because in the
two and a half years of its existence, it made lots of international
meetings happen, numerous books were published on the relevant
topics, Croatian experts participated in conferences and observed
various courses. Other activities were the implementation of voca-
tional educational programs, the LLL Week, liaison with colleagues
from the neighboring countries and the exchange of experiences and
achievements.
This project’s importance is indisputable in lobbying govern-
ment support for adult education in the Republic of Croatia. It is
also vital for its local activities and in bringing the attention of the
public to the adult education issues and politics.
The Challenges of
Teacher Training in Albania
Viktor Ristani*
I would like to deal with the experience of the English Depart-

ment staff in training English teachers, who originally graduated
in other subject areas such as Russian, mathematics, biology, engi-
neering, etc. within the context of our efforts towards quality assur-
ance management in Albania. These were projects organized in col-
laboration with the Ministry of Education, English Department,
and NAETA (National Association of English Teachers of Albania),
with financial support from SOROS/AEDP (Albanian Education
Development Project).
Taking into consideration that adult education is more than a
right, that it is both a consequence of active citizenship and a condi-
tion for full participation in society1 , and in line with the Hamburg
Declaration on Adult Learning, learning throughout life has been
*Head of English Department, Faculty of Foreign Languages, Uni-

versity of Tirana, Albania.
conceived as a rethinking of content to reflect such factors as age,

gender, equality, disability, language, culture and economic dispari-
ties, with a view to assisting specific target groups of population in
Albania to develop their abilities, enrich their knowledge, and im-
prove their professional qualifications, or even turn them in a new
direction to meet their own needs and those of the society. Govern-
ments, social partners, employers, unions, non-governmental and
community organizations must take the necessary measures to sup-
port individuals in expressing their educational needs and aspira-
tions. Likewise they have a responsibility to interact and create equal
opportunities for lifelong learning, provided they are recognized and
accredited.2 In light of this, the English Department, NAETA, and
the Ministry of Education launched the project focusing on “Emer-
gency certification and in-service English language teacher training
of English teachers.” In view of the profound changes that took place
during the early 1990s—the emergence of the market economy and
the collapse of command economy, the emergence of the informa-
tion-based and knowledge-based society, the changes affecting the
Albanian population in terms of age structure and mobility, and the
major changes in patterns of work and employment—the various
target groups of population had to make tremendous efforts to cope
with the new opportunities and demands, despite declining resources
at their disposal. As stated in The Hamburg Declaration on Adult
Education: “In developing countries, the concern is not simply one
of employment but also of ensuring secure livelihoods.”3 Our main
concern is to improve the teachers’ existing skills, to help them de-
velop new skills and the capacity to adapt productively to the con-
tinuously changing demands of employment throughout working
life.4
The target group for this project are the teachers of English
originally having graduated as teachers of Russian, French, math-
ematics, biology, chemistry, teachers of English who had finished
the vocational secondary school for foreign languages. We are very
THE CHALLENGES OF TEACHER TRAINING IN ALBANIA / V. RISTANI 159
sensitive to the following issues related to adult education, espe-

cially as regards adult learning and the changing world of work:
• recognizing the right to work and to a sustainable livelihood
for our fellow colleagues;
• ensuring that work-related adult education provides the spe-
cific competencies and skills for entry and re-entry into the
labor market;
• ensuring that knowledge and skills formally or informally
acquired were fully recognized;
• enriching the learning environment at the workplace and of-
fering flexible and collective learning activities and relevant
services for the teachers.
Under these circumstances, the teacher training staff of the
English Department, in collaboration with the Department of Edu-
cation for the Tirana District (the capital city of Albania), initially
identified the teachers to be involved and benefit from this Project.
Afterwards, the teachers had to take the placement test, which fo-
cused not only on the trainees’ linguistic expertise and skills, but
also on their cultural and background knowledge. In addition, the
following factors were considered:
a) The motivation of the trainee. It is the most important factor,
since a well-motivated person tends to learn against all odds
and the converse is also true. Well-designed learning aids and
good teacher support were vital to maintaining motivation. A
variety of programs was also required as well as plenty of op-
portunities to practise the new skills acquired. Since teachers
normally would offer testing and reassurance to the trainee
that he/she was making real progress, if the teacher was less
present, it was important that trainees were given other ways
of measuring progress;
b) The Individual Learning Strategy. Indeed, we had to test all
the strategies for their effect on motivation, as learning is
always quicker if the program is fully adapted to the

individual’s needs and allows for his/her particular way of
learning.
c) The professional teacher was required to help devise and de-
velop the programme and provide support and assistance as
it developed.
d) Teaching or learning aids associated with quality teaching had
to be attractive so as to contribute to the trainees’ motiva-
tion.
e) The learning environment would include all those factors that
impact on learning but are often not directly part of the
training budget. It also includes where the training takes
place—school and management policy (Does school princi-
pal care? Is the training on school time? Does the trainee
pay for the training?)
f ) Improving communication skills and the attitudes of trainers
and trainees, since all the teachers have been educated in
systems based on teacher dependency. Therefore, both train-
ers and trainees had to relearn their relationship targeting
progressive change.
g) Mentoring less experienced teachers were paired with more
experienced colleagues to whom they could turn for guid-
ance and counselling throughout the course;
h) Time, of course, is an essential requirement for any learning
strategy. Unless the trainee made an adequate commitment
of time, money was likely to be wasted.
In addition, special consideration was shown to promote inde-
pendent learning as the long-term aim of all professional trainers.
Once the individual teachers took responsibility for their own learn-
ing and accept that there is always scope for self-improvement, the
schools and society in which they work and live would become more
responsive to the external environment.

Further, following the interviews with the candidates for the
emergency certification course, the more practical issue was related
to setting up the course, such as how the previous teacher training
courses could be adapted to the needs and legal requirements of
Albania. Likewise, a number of possible aspects of the contrast be-
tween academic (university) and vocational courses were discussed,
as expressed in the question: “What form must the teaching of lan-
guage science take to teachers on the one hand and the students of
philology and humanities on the other? Is there a difference?
The following is an outline of the problems dealt with by our
staff team:
1. General definition of course objectives and content:
a. teaching and professional objectives;
b. course duration;
c. content; and
d. admission and placement test.
A series of questions had to be answered:
• Should the course pursue exclusively vocational or edu-
cational objectives?
• How long should the course be?
• When should the course be scheduled—every Saturday,
or twice a week?
• Was practical training compulsory or optional?
• What would be the validation procedure—training re-
port, or mid-term report?
• Who validates the vocational performance attainment?
• What would be the proportion of practical and theoreti-
cal training?
• What teaching skills and methodologies should be used
alone or in combination to improve linguistic skills?
2) Definition of teaching and administrative framework:

• Subjects and number of contact hours;
• Choice of teachers: profile and skills—Language teach-
ers or specialists of education? Participation of other de-
partments.
• Teacher training needs;
• Certificate and academic recognition: What certificate?
Who issues it? (University? Faculty?)
3) Course content and assessment procedures;
4) Need to improve in the future; and
5) Quality assurance and management in pre-service and in-
service teacher training.
As regards quality assurance and management in teacher train-
ing, it should be pointed out that in the academic and research
activities carried out by the staff of the University of Tirana the main
concern has been and is still associated with maintaining standards
and documenting quality control processes. The greatest role is re-
lated to defining what “quality” might look like, what standards might
be appropriately set and how they might be measured. Therefore, it
should be accepted that “quality” and “standards” are highly prob-
lematic; they may be examined from a number of alternative view-
points. These definitions cannot be separated from the values that
underpin them and from the way they are applied in institutional
and individual practice. In several occasions, it has been pointed out
that quality may be viewed as a bench mark, an absolute like “truth”
that allows no compromise.5 Alternatively, it may be discussed in
terms of thresholds of minimum performance that a “quality” edu-
cation should exceed. Finally, it may be seen as a relative matter,
related to the extent that processes result in desired outcomes.
In recent years, there has been a noticeable shift in terms of
perspectives on quality. The shift has included a movement from the
focus on the needs of the institution and the subject to a focus on
multiple perspectives and interest groups. Hence, the institutions

are more and more interested in the perspectives of students, em-
ployers, the community, etc. The results of quality assurance and
assessment are put to multiple purposes—to determine resource al-
location, to inform recruitment decisions, to inform course and staff
development, etc.6
The questions of quality assurance and institutional quality
management have been the principal issues dealt with by the Uni-
versity of Tirana with a view to introducing and establishing the
European dimension of higher education in consonance with the
principles of European universities. In this framework, in 1998, the
University of Tirana was involved in a PHARE Multi-Country Pro-
gram in Higher Education; ZZ-95.20 Quality Assurance in Higher
Education with the participation and support of the Quality Sup-
port Center at the Open University of London, UK. Following the
completion of this PHARE Project, the University of Tirana submit-
ted the first Country Report. The aim of this aspect of the project
was to promote cooperation among countries of central and Eastern
Europe in the development of higher education quality assurance
systems, drawing upon and sharing the European experience. It in-
volved the pilot program evaluation of the Economics and Sociology
program at the University of Tirana, following a self-evaluation un-
dertaken within the University. In addition, within the frame-
work of this Project, the Pilot Institutional Evaluation for the Uni-
versity of Tirana was carried out. Self-evaluation, followed by exter-
nal evaluation, as the first experience in Albania, focused on the Fac-
ulty of Medicine, the Faculty of Natural Sciences, and the Faculty of
History and Philology. The external experts have pointed out “they
appreciated and supported the aspiration of the University of Tirana
to take a leading role in the further development of higher education
in Albania. This is worthy and appropriate aspiration, which the
University is well placed to realize. The University had developed its
own evaluation system with which the views of the visiting party
broadly concurred, both in its analysis and its determination of what

was necessary for future development.”7
As a result of all the efforts made by the University of Tirana,
the other Albanian universities, and the Ministry of Education and
Science of the Republic of Albania within the context of the TEM-
PUS funded projects, the Albanian Agency of Higher Education
Accreditation was established. It is essentially intended to perfect
and consolidate the System of Quality Assurance and Management
in Higher Education.
The development of the European Credit Transfer System
(ECTS) by the University of Tirana has always been part of the con-
sistent attempts to carry out significant reforms, as an indispensable
requirement towards integration in the European university network.
Introducing this system resulted from the fundamental requirements
to restructure higher education, as envisaged by the Declaration of
Bologna, whose principles have been recognized by the University of
Tirana.
The University of Tirana was involved in the PHARE Project
“Recognition of Higher Education Diplomas and Study Credit Points
Across Borders,” with the participation of 13 East European coun-
tries, and launched the initiative to develop this system for the first
time ever in Albania. The entire efforts made have been reflected in
the Information Packages, compiled by the work groups established
in the respective faculties for the University of Tirana. These Infor-
mation Packages are based on three fundamental elements:
• Information on the curricula and syllabi, as well as the stu-
dents’ Transcript of Records, i.e. the marks received accord-
ing to our grading scale of 1 to 10, and the grades translated
into the ECTS European System, respectively ECTS: A,B,C,D
etc. However, it should be taken into consideration that the
grades express the students’ attainment in qualitative terms,
whereas the credits assigned reflect the quantity of work each
course unit requires for the student to complete. To avoid
incompatibility with the local grading system, a common

grading scale has been proposed.
• In utilizing the ECTS System, which reflects the quantity of
work each course unit requires, that is lectures, seminars, tu-
torials, private study—in the library or at home—and exami-
nations, or other assessment procedures.
• In the Mutual Agreement signed between the partner uni-
versities and the students concerned, which has been unified
through adopting the same documentation by all the coun-
tries that have recognized the ECTS System.
Compiling these Information Packages was not an easy job,
considering that it was the first time they were drafted and the nec-
essary experience was absent. Furthermore, part of the academia did
not have a clear view and understanding of the essence of this sys-
tem, its values and structure, especially the way it should be struc-
tured. It could be admitted that, for the first time ever in the Alba-
nian universities, the Credit Points System has been developed, as
one of the indispensable steps towards the recognition of our Uni-
versity by the European Network.
However, it does not imply that our activity in this respect has
been exhausted, since the curricula and syllabi for the respective
faculties are periodically revised and improved. Consequently, such
changes are reflected even in the changes of credit points for certain
subjects. These Information Packages are the property of the respec-
tive faculties, which could publish them again thereby reflecting the
possible changes in the future. Irrespective of any shortcomings, it is
important though that the first step has been taken; the principles
of setting up this system and our students’ benefits are evident.
In addition, we should look at the Credit Points not simply as
a system which assesses the quantity of work each course unit re-
quires from the students of our university to complete, but also as a
challenge towards qualitative improvements in several aspects con-
cerning their academic training.

Likewise, the process of managing student mobility and trans-
fer undoubtedly requires a new institutional unit for each faculty. In
this respect, the Rector’s Office for the Tirana University is working
towards introducing the institutional practice needed for this new
system to function.
Developing the Credit Point System marks the further con-
tinuation of university reforms. Determining the essence and func-
tion of the Diploma Supplement and other endeavors, in compli-
ance with the Declaration of Bologna, will immediately follow.
The process of quality assurance and management has always
been closely related to curriculum development. It has enabled and
is enabling the existence of graduate education of various levels, the
target being the attainment of contemporary international standards
completely responding to the current and future needs of the coun-
try and the job market. This task has been and is being accom-
plished, both within the framework of the entire system of higher
education and within the framework of the same academic and re-
search unit, through developing the curricula and enhancing the
curricular level.
Endnotes
1
CONFINTEA “The Hamburg Declaration, the Agenda for the
Future,” Fifth International Conference on Adult Education” 14-18 July
1997, p.1.
2
1997, p.3-4.
3
1997, p.19-20.
4
1997, p.20
5
Harvey, L. & Green, D. 1993. “Defining Quality, Assessment
and Evaluation in Higher Education,” 18, 1, pp.9-34
6
Ashcroft, K. 1995. “The Lecturer’s Guide to Quality and Stan-
dards in Colleges and Universities.”
7
PHARE Multi-Country Programme Programme in Higher Edu-
cation; ZZ-95.20 Quality Assurance in Higher Education: Pilot
Programme Evaluation. Tirana, October 1998.
Mobilizing for Learning at the Crossroads
of International Education Policy Frameworks:
The Role of Adult Learners Weeks and
Lifelong Learning Festivals
Bettina Bochynek*
Recapitulation
T he international movement of specific promotional campaigns

for learning came into being some ten years ago. In the context
of cuts and shifts in public spending for non-work related adult
education, the idea of a learning festival was developed by the Na-
tional Institute for Adult and Continuing Education (NIACE) in
the United Kingdom with the aim of highlighting the social ben-
efits of learning and of reaching out to potential learners—in par-
ticular to communities and individuals excluded from previous and
current learning opportunities—to motivate them to take part in
learning activities.
Encouraged by the mobilization effect of the first UK Adult
Learners Week in 1992, Australia and Jamaica (1995), South Africa
*Research Specialist, UNESCO Institute for Education.

as well as Belgium (Flanders), Slovenia and Switzerland (1996) fol-

lowed the path of NIACE, and from 1998 onwards, a growing num-
ber of countries in and outside Europe picked up the idea to set up
their own festival.
While the initiative grew through advice and cooperation from
one country to another, the Fifth International Conference on Adult
Education (CONFINTEA V) in 1997 set out the path for a tight-
ened international structure: the conference delegates committed
themselves to “promoting the culture of lifelong learning through ...the
development of a United Nations Week of Adult Learning.” UNESCO,
as the United Nations lead agency in education, took up the issue
following CONFINTEA V. Acknowledging that learning festivals
“provide an annual national focus on adult learning, celebrate learners’
achievements, and provide opportunities to promote lifelong learning by
giving existing learners a role in mobilizing others and engaging the mass
media in energizing people all over the world to learn,” the General
Conference of UNESCO paved the way for the launch of Interna-
tional Adult Learners Week in September 2000.
Within UNESCO, the UNESCO Institute for Education (UIE)
is monitoring and supporting International Adult Learners Week,
which is most of all the sum and the network of adult learners weeks,
lifelong learning weeks and literacy weeks (“learning festivals”) all
over the world. International Adult Learners Week is a mechanism
to bridge the national learning festivals, and to deepen cross-national
exchange and cooperation by lending technical and moral support
to those groups and agencies coordinating festivals or trying to de-
velop them in their countries or regions. The purpose of Interna-
tional Adult Learners Week is to serve as a trans-national advocacy
tool for the integration of a broad and holistic concept of lifelong
learning into political agenda, both within countries as well as at the
international level, and to contribute to the building of learning
cultures and societies.
One decade after adult learners week was born, some 35 to 40
MOBILIZING FOR LEARNING AT THE CROSSROADS / B. BOCHYNEK 171
countries worldwide are celebrating a learning festival, including

Botswana, Kenya, Egypt, Philippines, Japan, New Zealand, Brazil
and Mexico. The European region accounts for more than half of
them: in twenty-four countries stretching from the far North West-
ern tip to the South Eastern angle of the continent, learning festivals
have already been organized:
• the United Kingdom (1992),
• Belgium (Flanders), Slovenia, Switzerland (1996),
• Norway, Finland, Estonia, Germany (1998),
• Austria (1999),
• Bosnia/Herzegovina, Iceland, Lithuania, the Netherlands,
Romania, the Russian Federation, Sweden, Ukraine (2000),
• Albania, Bulgaria, Denmark, Yugoslavia (2001),
• Cyprus and Macedonia, as well as Canada & Québec1 (2002).
Key Features of Learning Festivals

As diverse as the backgrounds and socio-cultural contexts of coun-
tries may be, the fundamental concepts and the key objectives of learn-
ing festivals are shared: they are promotional campaigns to raise the
visibility and profile of adult and lifelong learning. Learning festivals
are used to show the variety of existing learning activities and to chal-
lenge a narrow concept of adult learning. One of the central elements
of learning festivals is the place attributed to learners: the celebration
of learners and their achievements. While reaching out to excluded
and marginalized adults, festivals create a platform for the voices of
learners and provide the space to experience the joy and transforma-
tive potential of learning. Finally, to stimulate the expression of the
learning needs and aspirations of learners, and to build partnerships
and cooperation, are at the heart of the campaigns.
The principal events organized in the framework of learning
festivals include, apart from a central opening ceremony with Minis-
ters or illustrious personalities, a number of public events and exhi-

bitions. They are mostly carried out directly in public spaces, or
through “open-door days” on the premises of various education pro-
viders. Since one of the central objectives of adult learners weeks and
learning festivals is to reach as many people as possible and to demystify
the negative stereotypes of education, activities during the campaign
are organized with an enormous amount of creativity in a great vari-
ety of public locations not automatically associated with learning or
education. These include: shopping centers, markets, churches, li-
braries, parks, schools, colleges, job centers, buses, trains, commu-
nity centers, town halls, prisons, workplaces, theaters, galleries, clubs,
cultural institutions, concert halls, houses for the elderly, congress
centers, recreational centers... “The list is endless,” as one national
coordinator puts it, “wherever adults go is a target place.”
Other type of activities are workshops, discussion fora, and con-
ferences mainly addressing “experts” such as educators, politicians,
and academicians. Ample space is allotted to the granting of awards
to learners and organizations. In some countries, guided city tours, a
Parliamentary Reception and a national telephone help line, com-
pany visits, “in-house days of lifelong learning” in companies or a
contest for adult learners to invent the logo for the learning festival
are part of the campaign.
Partnerships are central to learning festivals, both as the basis to
start from and as a result to be obtained. A large—and steadily grow-
ing—number of organizations is involved in the festivals in all coun-
tries in Europe. Overall coordination is usually taken over by the
national adult education association or institute, or by the Ministry
of Education. They form a committee or a coalition of major (“um-
brella”) organizations providing the framework within which smaller/
regional organizations operate, frequently coordinating the events or
activities at the local level. Yet, not only within countries, but also
across borders partnerships on behalf of learning festivals are emerg-
ing, beside the overall traditional cooperation across countries be-
tween adult education organizations. The Institute for International

Cooperation of the German Adult Education Association (IIZ-DVV)
is playing an important role through their network, providing coop-
eration and support to countries from Eastern and South-Eastern
Europe.
As mentioned earlier, publicity is one of the crucial goals of
learning festivals. On the one hand, publicity is needed as an instru-
ment to attract attention to the festival itself and its activities (an-
nouncements and advertisements to feature events during the cam-
paign). On the other hand, it serves to ensure the continued visibil-
ity of the underlying issues and the learning opportunities presented
(editorials to highlight policy and social implications and benefits of
lifelong learning). In consequence, public relations activities and part-
nerships with media have a prominent place in the implementation
of festivals. Over the years, media attention which has remained a
challenging endeavor to be further developed, is best achieved through
individual success stories (articles, reports, interviews, poems, auto-
biographical stories)—an equally powerful tool in the advocacy work
towards politicians.
With a view to future international cooperation, technical help
and mutual support is expected to strengthen national and regional
learning festivals. A lot of prestige and convincing arguments are
also seen to derive from international relations and examples, win-
ning the support of domestic politicians and, in consequence, more
general attention and impact. Future collective projects foresee the
production of joint promotional tools, the availability of professional
materials related to adult and lifelong learning within social con-
texts, and a databank illustrating examples of good practice and suc-
cessful learners’ life stories including problems encountered and how
those have been solved. Finally, it is hoped that international coop-
eration will be helpful to secure financial support.
Within countries, steadiness and reliability are believed to be
the key principles for improving learning festivals in the future: con-
tinuous implementation of the festivals, regular funding systems,

and structured evaluation methods. The second main future require-
ment is the enlargement and consolidation of the cooperation mecha-
nisms, particularly between NGOs and governments, and with me-
dia. And, finally, it will be important to cater more closely to the
needs of learners, both content-wise as well as in terms of developing
more local initiatives.
The Potential and Impact of Learning Festivals

Based on its record of successes and broad-based recognition,
the outlook of adult learners weeks and lifelong learning festivals is
very promising in most European countries. “Ten years on” were
celebrated in UK in May 2002, manifesting the impact and scope
which Adult Learners Week has been able to achieve, with a growing
coalition of partners and sponsors, and support from politicians and
political parties. Enlarged networking to extend the reach of learn-
ing festivals within and across countries is taking place, for instance,
in the Russian Federation, where educators from different parts of
the country joined a training workshop to learn how to set up local
festivals, and have begun local initiatives in different parts of the
country. Joined initiatives at the sub-regional level are evolving in
the Scandinavian countries as well as in South-East Europe, where a
common festival is planned for October 2003, while there are indi-
cations that the number of individual countries developing their
own learning festival is growing—e.g. Latvia. In Germany, a num-
ber of separate smaller learning festivals have been made an integral
part of “learning areas,” which are local network projects of one or
more communities supported by the Ministry of Education.
Apart from these positive and exciting developments, there are
also setbacks for the learning festivals movement in Europe. While,
for instance, local festivals are still organized in great numbers in
Germany—within or separate from “learning areas”—the central
coordination has been abandoned, and not even a central all-encom-

passing monitoring mechanism or agency exists. The worst news,
however, come from Denmark—under the new government, the
learning festival has been simply abandoned, and the Institute pre-
viously in charge of it completely dismantled.
Nonetheless, the positive and constructive developments by far
outnumber the setbacks, and they are very indicative of the ground
the movement has been making. Not only the continuation of festi-
vals and the growing number of individual countries developing their
own events, but also the cooperation patterns across countries—in
particular the sub-regional initiatives and networks—show the be-
lief in the effectiveness of the festivals. These tendencies also strengthen
the movement, providing support both within national contexts as
well as on the international scene. A clear challenge in this regard for
the future is to explore and incite the two sub-regions to join the
movement: South-Western and Mediterranean Europe, and the coun-
tries of Central Europe.
Against this background, it is clear that learning festivals are
much more than a celebratory event: they are a mobilization and
advocacy tool for learning. In the current context, where the interna-
tional education policy framework consists of three major agenda—
the CONFINTEA V Agenda for the Future, the Dakar Framework
for Action and the United Nations Literacy Decade—the instrumen-
tal value of learning festivals needs to be further examined and ex-
ploited.
Learning festivals are very useful instruments to promote lifelong
learning through the emphasis on learning with pleasure, the mani-
festation of the diversity of learning, and the integration between
learning and the daily life realities of people. By stimulating and
bringing to the surface the learning needs, interests and concerns of
people, the festivals help to develop needs-based education policies,
strategies and provision. By recognizing and incorporating different
forms of learning and knowledge, the festivals help to overcome
boundaries between formal, non-formal and informal learning modes

and to foster a holistic vision of learning. And, last but not least, by
setting up events in unusual settings, the festivals help create literate
and learning environments beyond conventional educational frame-
works, highlighting at the same time the multiplicity of learning con-
texts, experiences and literacies. Partnerships, old and new alliances
and synergizing efforts are both the basis and the objective of the
festivals, and new capacities in planning, management, and program
design of all those involved are built up.
Learning festivals are also tools to democratize lifelong learning
and to build critical societies through the creation of spaces for self-
expression, the engagement in horizontal and mutually benefiting
learning processes, and by motivating people to become involved.
By featuring non-threatening learning activities, the festivals help
people discover qualities and mobilize assets which lead to their em-
powerment. By encouraging and facilitating participation in learn-
ing and social activities, the festivals help fuel individual people’s
reflection, interaction and action. Lastly, learning festivals are also
marked by the space they provide for reflection and experimenta-
tion, for dialogue and debate among providers.
The integration of the three policy agenda—the CONFINTEA
V Agenda for the Future, the Dakar Framework for Action and the
United Nations Literacy Decade—calls for adult learning, educa-
tion for all and literacy for all to be conceived as complementary and
interwoven elements within the overarching framework of lifelong
learning—aiming at the creation of literate and learning environ-
ments and societies. Against this background learning festivals have
the strategic potential to promote a holistic approach to adult learning
and literacy as integral parts of education for all and lifelong learning.
Endnote
1
Canada is considered to be part of the “Pan-European” Re-
gion by UNESCO. In September 2002, a national Canadian com-

memoration of International Adult Learners Week was organized, while
the province of Québec set up an additional provincial festival in
November 2002.
r
Appendices
r
Workshop Results
Thematic
On Basic Skills Development for Roma People

Adult educators willing to work with Roma people should ap-
proach Roma community free of prejudicies. In this way, adult edu-
cators will be able to get into Roma people’s lives and gain their
trust to ensure sustainability of skills development among them.
Organizations, presently or potentially interested to develop
and implement Basic Skills Development Projects for Roma com-
munity could closely consult the rich Hungarian experience. Where
interest exists, exchange seminars for further dissemination should
be considered.
On Women’s Lifelong Education—Innovations in Non-formal
Education system
Address international organizations to support and initiate needs
assessment research to identify what knowledge and skills (compe-
tencies) women need, including those prompted by the market de-
mand. The research has to be done by government institutions, NGOs
and universities. The latter can provide logistical and technical sup-
port for its proper structuring. This kind of research can be a start-
ing point for developing a systematic policy on women education.
To provide for gender mainstreaming and ensure sustainability

of projects financed by donors, it is necessary to set up a national
body/department within the Ministry of Education dealing with
women’s education.
To set up a network of women education organizations to ex-
change examples of best practices.
To develop strategies of the three sectors of education—for-
mal, non-formal, and informal together towards better cooperation
and coordination of the activities.
To address donors to review their quotas.
On Mother-Child Education
To promote mother-child education programs as they are helpful
in recruiting people in low-income households with low literacy levels.
To conduct research into the impact of mother-child pro-
grams.
To have alternative provisions for those who are not literate
before undertaking new courses.
On Cultural Practices as Learning Practices
Different societies and cultural sub-groups have different types
of literacy and different cultural practices on learning. Policy mak-
ing should, therefore, take into account the diversity in learning
approaches in various contexts.
We should not talk about “literacy” but literacies in the mod-
ern multi-modal landscape of communication. This multi-literacy ap-
proach can encourage active citizenship and democratic participation.
On Literacy Campaigns
Raise awareness regarding the importance of adult education
among governmental and non-governmental organizations, by show-
ing the results/impact of existing or past education programs.
For successful literacy programs, strong political leadership is
crucial at the national level; there should be adequate funding and
WORKSHOP RESULTS 183
technical support from the international community.

Utilize mass media and other innovative means for advocacy
and consciousness raising.
On Approaches to Adoption of EFA Goals into the National
Education Program
Along with the state organizations, NGOs and people’s orga-
nizations have to be involved in EFA and LLL programs
Improvement of legislative basis in terms of colaterizing and
encouraging fulfilling of EFA and LLL programs
Accelerating EFA programs which could help in issues con-
nected with health care, for example, HIV-AIDS
On Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking Project (RWCT)
Learners can freely and openly express themselves through de-
velopment of creative discussion which in turn ensures participation
of everyone. This improves learners’ autonomy.
The methods promoted through the RWCT project may also
be applied in the Adult Education Project as they provide the learner
skills needed for lifelong learning.
On Globalization and Adult Education
We support the initiative for changing existing legislation on
adult education in order to ensure continuous state provision to adult
education
We recommend EU Institutions to initiate and allocate funds
for training of responsible persons and/or ministerial bodies for EU
projects applications.
On promoting democracy through
adult education experiences
Adult learning projects should pursue long-term objectives
with the involvement of national stakeholders, local government,
NGOs, private sectors and international donors to make it a sustain-
able national program.
Adult learning projects should promote partnership links with

neighboring countries.
Adult learning projects should create a creative space for de-
veloping citizenship and democracy in diverse cultural contexts.
On national reforms
To emphasize in the national educational strategies, the im-
portance of the right to learn in one’s mother tongue (with respect
to ethnic groups and immigrants) so as not to inhibit critical think-
ing.
To develop national systems for the recognition and validation
of skills and knowledge acquired in non-formal and informal educa-
tion settings, taking into account not only technical but also the
social and political aspects of the problem
To incorporate national traditions of popular enlightenment
(similar to “volkeoplysning) into educational strategies
To promote cross-sectoral partnership at the national level (e.g.
similar to the Latvian EFA Forum) that includes several universities,
NGOs and other stakeholders.
On Reforms and Training Activities
Introduce targeted financial support to educational programs
and organizations belonging to the non-formal education
Introduce tax relief to the organizations operating in the edu-
cational field
Develop mechanisms of equivalency between formal and non-
formal education
On institutions for adult education and national association
implementing CONFINTEA V
Many goals of CONFINTEA V have not been achieved in
number of countries so we recommend to continue working on
CONFINTEA V recommendations.
To ensure that participants or organizations in adult education
are not taxed for delivering of adult certificate or non-certificate edu-

cation courses.
On organizing postdiploma education of teachers
There is a need to develop legislative frameworks for lifelong
learning in order to:
• meet the educational requirements of individuals and
groups
• ensure the involvement of state and non-state organiza-
tions in decision-making in the field of lifelong learning.
We need to develop concepts and mechanisms for implemen-
tation of distance learning as an innovative approach to the realities
of the emerging information society.
The development of mechanisms to articulate the objectives,
curriculum content and technologies to be used for lifelong learning
based on labor market requirements and the involvement of addi-
tional potential social partners.
On Emergency Certification and In-service English language
teacher training
Need for accreditation, quality assurance and certification for
teachers, especially with regards informally acquired skills.
Language teaching should be considered as an integral part of
adult education.
Accession to Europe increasingly demands the enhancement
of language teaching and learning levels in relation to linguistic and
cultural skills acquired.
On teacher training for adult educators
To indicate a transnational project to collect example of best
practice the in training of adult trainors
To animate local, regional, transnational partnerships in order
to define educational needs of adults and create a flexible curricula
of training adult educators.
To develop a dual system of training adult educators in adult

education and in a specific content field of teaching.
Geographical
Mediterranean Sub-region (Albania, Cyprus, Egypt,

Italy and Spain)
To advance the EFA agenda in the sub-region, it is necessary:
That governments and NGOs cooperate with each other and
network more tightly; that governments communicate, share and
disseminate information on the EFA debates and planning pro-
cesses to NGOs and involve NGOs in those processes; that NGOs
take more initiatives and become more active in demanding infor-
mation and involvement from governments;
That NGOs frame their own education approaches and ac-
tivities (particularly vis-à-vis minorities, immigrants, excluded
populations) within and as part of EFA, and that they raise aware-
ness among other organizations working in education to help them
understand that the work already being done is, indeed, part of
EFA;
That the strategic importance of the Mediterranean Sub-re-
gion as a bridge for populations migrating towards Europe is recog-
nized, and that common programs (both at NGO and government
levels, and between them) in all countries of the sub-region (North
and South of the Mediterranean Sea) are developed to design educa-
tional opportunities for migrant populations;
That more cooperation on EFA takes place between UNESCO
and the European Union and among trans-national European asso-
ciations and federations, uniting NGOs, universities, trade unions,
youth organizations etc.
That UNESCO’s Collective Consultation of NGOs working
in EFA (CC NGO/EFA) distributes more information on its activi-
ties and objectives in the European region to encourage European
NGOs (working in Europe) to be more involved and learn from

interregional experiences in EFA.
Western Europe (UK, Ireland, Switzerland, Germany, USA,
Canada with Bulgaria as observer)
To what extent are the goals of EFA being addressed in the
Western European countries?
Apart from Switzerland, EFA is not referred to as a concept or
as part of a Declaration. CONFINTEA V in comparison is familiar
as a Declaration and Agenda but it is not referred to very much in
day-to-day work.
All the countries represented are addressing the six goals of
EFA in varying degrees. Adult literacy is addressed in explicit ways
by governments in UK, Ireland and Switzerland. Definitions vary
from narrow (UK) to broader (Ireland and Switzerland). In the US,
adult literacy has historically been left to individuals and private
organizations. NGOs and quasi-governmental organizations address
ESL (English as Second language). In Germany, literacy is not a
major issue of discussion and where it exists, it takes the form of
alpabetism (2Rs). If a wider concept of literacy is used, it tends to be
termed basic as basic skills.
In Canada, education is a provincial matter with the Federal
Government getting involved mainly in post-secondary education
to fund research, national scheme of student loans, and university
and college infrastructure.
In the European Commission, the concrete objectives of the
educational systems are being addressed through eight Committees
on 1) Basic skills, 2) Active Citizenship and Social Inclusion, 3)
Maths and Sciences, 4) Accrediting and Valuing Learning, 5) In-
vestment in Human Resources, 6) ICTs and eLearning. Lifelong learn-
ing is a major concern in all these Committees.
• There is a need for cross-referencing of the Memorandum of
LLL, EFA and CONFINTEA V goals, targets, outcomes,
discourses and documentation. Such cross-referencing would
enhance the debate and the results.

• EFA needs to concentrate more on adults—in the docu-
ments, presentations, discourses, targets and outcomes—so
as to avoid giving the impression that EFA stands for “Ex-
cept for Adults.”
Central and Eastern Europe
A group of very diverse countries with different experiences
and backgrounds, some countries have national Action Plans, some
do not have one. Some know the plans are being prepared but are
sure what is included in them.
The National Action Plans were prepared in different ways,
either as a special project or a priority concern by the Ministry of
Education. There is also the situation where there is no separate
action plans but the priorities of EFA are realized through existing
laws or development plans.
Taking into account the experiences shared, the group would
like to point out the 1) necessity of cooperation, 2) sharing of infor-
mation, and 3) consultations with various bodies (institutions, NGOs
etc.), to empower all the stakeholders to enable them to know what
is planned, what is implemented and consequently raise questions
to governments regarding the implementation of EFA goals.
r
Sofia Conference Call to Action*
Preamble
T wo hundred delegates from Europe, North America and Cen

tral Asia participated in an international conference on Lifelong
Learning in Europe: Moving towards EFA Goals and the CONFINTEA
V Agenda in Sofia, Bulgaria, 6th – 9th November 2002. Participants
included Government Ministers, parliamentarians, officials from
government and multi-lateral organizations, representatives of non-
governmental organizations, researchers and adult education practi-
tioners. The Conference was supported by the Ministry of Educa-
tion and Science of the Republic of Bulgaria, UNESCO and its In-
stitute for Education (UIE), the European Commission Directorate
General Education and Culture, the European Association for the
Education of Adults (EAEA) and the Institute for International Co-
operation of the German Adult Education Association (IIZ/DVV).
The Conference fully supported the Dakar Framework for Ac-
tion on Education for All (EFA), the CONFINTEA V Agenda (The
resolutions of the Fifth World Conference on Adult Education held
in Hamburg in 1997), the CONFINTEA V Follow-up Report, and
the Lifelong Learning and Education policies of the European Com-
mission. Support was also expressed for the Lifelong Learning poli-
cies adopted by the European Commission designed to encourage
gender equality and intercultural learning, to combat racism and
xenophobia, to promote social inclusion and the inclusion of older
learners and people with disabilities.
A Call to Action
The Sofia Conference “Call to Action” is being issued to ex-
press support for the excellent work done to date on EFA,
CONFINTEA V and Lifelong Learning and to stress the need for
continued progress on the implementation of EFA, CONFINTEA
V and Lifelong Learning policies. While applauding efforts to reach
out to the school-aged population within EFA and Lifelong Learn-
ing policies and practice we want to highlight the inadequate atten-
tion being given to the learning needs of adults in many countries.
We believe that access to literacy and learning are human rights that
must be extended to all, regardless of age as forcefully stipulated in
the Action Plan of the United Nations Literacy Decade (UNLD).
We think that there is a danger that EFA could come to mean edu-
cation for all except for adults. We are convinced that the learning
needs of adults in the developing nations of the world should not be
left unattended because raising the general education levels of par-
ents is a key factor in the achievement of educational goals for the
young and in the achievement of overall development goals.
The Issues Identified by the Conference

1) There is a need for greater coherence between and among
the various education polices developed by multilateral or-
ganizations active in the field.
2) The education of adults has low priority in the implemen-
tation of Education for All policies in many countries.
SOFIA CONFERENCE ON ADULT EDUCATION CALL TO ACTION 191
3) Similarly, although Lifelong Learning policies include an

emphasis on Adult Education, insufficient attention is be-
ing given to the role of Adult Education in Lifelong Learn-
ing in many countries.
4) The CONFINTEA V Agenda calls for concerted national
and international action involving a wide range of stakehold-
ers. However, many nations need to increase efforts to meet
the commitments they made in Hamburg, and to better co-
ordinate the actions taken by stakeholders within their bor-
ders to implement the Agenda.
5) Many countries do not have the policies, frameworks and
structures required to advance Adult Education. Require-
ments include new legislation, adequate financial support,
appropriate institutional structures, effective administrative
systems, quality frameworks and the conditions required to
support effective partnerships and lobbying.
6) The Conference noted that neither non-formal nor informal
Adult Education have parity of status with formal Adult
Education. It also noted that the allocation of resources in
most countries favours adult learning for the work place at
the expense of adult learning for active citizenship and self-
fulfillment.
7) While the gender balance at the Sofia Conference was recog-
nized as an example of good practice, the general absence of
gender sensitive monitoring of policies and provision in Adult
Education in many countries was noted.
8) The Conference was concerned with the increasingly nar-
row approach being taken to adult basic skills education as
demonstrated by the reduction in funding for learning for
cultural, health, democratic participation and sustainable
development objectives.
9) The Conference was concerned that both learner-centred

approaches and the active participation of learners in the learn-
ing process are not always present in Adult Education policy
and provision.
10) The Conference expressed concern at the slow progress be-
ing made toward the recognition and accreditation of non-
formal and informal adult learning.
11) Some participants experienced difficulty in gathering in-
formation to report to the Conference on their country’s
performance in meeting the various policy targets set for
EFA, CONFINTEA V and Lifelong Learning. There is con-
sensus on the need for regular and consistent reports on
progress towards established objectives.
12) There are too few opportunities for international exchange
of research, methodologies, curricula, models, frameworks
and practices.
The Call to Action Recommendations

The Sofia Conference Call to Action is addressed to “whom it
may concern”, namely those with the mandate and the power to
take action on the specific recommendations made below. These
key players in education policy and/or provision include: UNESCO,
European Commission, European Parliament, Nordic Council of
Ministers, Council of Europe, OECD, local, regional and national
parliaments and governments, social partners and NGOs.
1) We recommend that high priority be given to the efforts
being undertaken by UNESCO and the European Com-
mission to achieve greater coherence between and among
EFA, CONFINTEA V and Lifelong Learning goals. As this
work progresses we believe that the specific policy goals es-
tablished for Adult Education under each of these initia-
tives require greater visibility if they are to be attained.
2) We encourage equal emphasis on the delivery of learning

opportunities in formal, non-formal and informal settings.
Partnerships between statutory, non-governmental, and so-
cial partners must be fostered to address these different adult
learning needs worldwide.
3) The funding of formal, informal and non-formal Adult Edu-
cation needs to be increased in countries that have not met
their Adult Education commitments.
4) Governments at all levels need to ensure that Adult Educa-
tion remains an explicit and integrated element in their Life-
long Learning policies and practices. The creation of the lo-
cal, regional and national frameworks and structures that
are required for the development, co-ordination, quality man-
agement, evaluation and funding of Adult Education needs
to be given high priority by the level(s) of government re-
sponsible for education under each nation’s constitutional
arrangements.
5) In addition to reading, writing, numeracy and ICT skills,
we recommend that basic education provision should in-
clude the skills and knowledge necessary to advance each
person’s ability to participate fully in the social, cultural,
political and economic life of their communities. As well,
additional resources need to be allocated to support adult
learning for active citizenship and self-fulfillment.
6) Priority should be given to the development of learner-centred
policies and practices and to the encouragement of the ac-
tive participation of learners in every phase of the learning
process from planning to evaluation.
7) Comprehensive local, regional and national statistical data
collection systems for Adult Education are required. Data
are needed to establish benchmarks, to undertake needs
analyses, to plan, to monitor, to report on and to evaluate

performance, and to undertake international comparative
studies. Employment statistics should contain a section
on employment in Adult Education in the state-financed,
commercial, non-governmental and self-employed sectors.
8) We believe that regular reports on progress to reach policy
targets are a necessity. This applies equally to the EFA
Framework and to the CONFINTEA V Agenda. There-
fore we recommend that annual national reports on
progress should be made to stakeholders and to UNESCO.
9) The need for these annual reports should be stressed in the
CONFINTEA V + VI mid-term Review. In addition, The
Right To Learn Throughout Life, the so-called “Shadow Re-
port” on progress to date on CONFINTEA V priorities
being prepared by NGOs under the auspices of the Inter-
national Council for Adult Education (ICAE), should form
an important element of the 2003 review.
10) Benchmarks and indicators, as well as adequate monitor-
ing and reporting procedures must be developed to ensure
that annual reports are comprehensive and complete. UIE
should play a key role in the development of these tools
and the establishment and functioning of an EFA Obser-
vatory in the European region in cooperation with UIS
(UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
11) Quantitative and qualitative instruments to monitor the
application of gender sensitive policies in the provision of
Adult Education must be further developed and used.
12) Comprehensive systems for the certification and recogni-
tion of formal, non-formal and informal adult learning must
be developed. A key ingredient must be a system for ac-
crediting prior learning.
13) International co-operation and intercultural learning op-
portunities need to be expanded in order to enrich policy

and practice in Adult Education and to contribute to peace
and reconciliation, especially in the Balkan, Caucasus and
Mediterranean regions.
14) We recommend that a Europe-Africa EFA partnership ini-
tiative be established based on the findings of the 2002
Monitoring Report on Education for All: Meeting our Collec-
tive Commitments and on the fact that many of the coun-
tries represented at the Sofia Conference are donors to de-
veloping countries. Those African countries, which at the
present rate of progress will not be able to halve their rate
of adult illiteracy by 2015, should be provided with fund-
ing under the proposed partnership to enable them to
achieve that goal in the context of the UN Literacy De-
cade 2003 – 2012.
r
List of Participants
ALBANIA
Mr Sokol Avxhiu Rr. “Bogdani”, Pll. Nr. 7
Project Officer Ap. 5 A
IIZ-DVV Tirana
Project: Adult Education in Albania Tel + (355-4) 257 477/Fax 257 476
email: iizparshavxhiu@albmail.com
Ms Eljona Boce Rr Elbasanit
Project Coordinator / CDE Pallatet Fratari
Kulla 3/29
Tirana
Tel/Fax + (355-4) 340 378/9
email: eboce@cde-ct.org
Mr Stavri Lako Rruga e Kavajes, MPCS
Director for Vocational Training Tirana
National Employment Service email: stavril@yahoo.com
Ministry of Labour
Departamenti i Arsimite
Mr Viktor Ristani Square “Nene Terezat”

Head of Department for English Tirana
University of Tirana Tel + (355-4) 37 16 68/Fax 37 26 68
email: vristani@interalb.net
Ms Mariana Sinani Rr. “Naim Frasheri,” 37
Deputy Director Tirana
Institute for Pedagogical Studies Tel + (355-4) 25 64 40/Fax 22 38 60
Mr Agron Tato Kuvendi Popullor

Member of Parliament Tirana, Albania
Parliamentary Commission for Education Tel + (355-4) 232 602/Fax 227 949
ARMENIA
Mr Haykak Arshamyan 13 Khorenatsi Street
Adviser to the Minister Yerevan
Ministry of Education and Science Tel/Fax + (374-1) 52 46 84
email: arshamyan@edu.am
Mr Nerses Gevorgyan Tel + (374-9) 41 85 63
Council of Europe, Higher email: generses@freenet.am
Education and Research Committee
Mr Viktor Martirosyan Tel + (374-1) 54 21 00
Head email: viktor@edureform.am
Educational ReformCenter
Ms Hasmik Sahakyan Yerevan
Executive Director
International Accountancy Training
Center Educational Fund
AUSTRIA
Mr Hubert Petrasch Katholisches Bildungswerk Wien
Stephansplatz 6
1010 Wien
Tel + (43-1) 515 52 3323
email: h.petrasch@edw.or.at
AZERBAIJAN
Mr Shahlar Asgarov Parlament avenue 1
Baku
Tel + (994-12) 213 35 53
Ms Irada Huseinova Xotai prospekti 49
Deputy Minister of Education 370008 Baku
Ministry of Education Tel + (994-12) 96 06 47
Fax + (994-12) 96 34 83 / 96 34 90
email: edu_min@azeri.com
Mr Abdullah Mehrabov Azerbaijan avenue. 40
Director, Azerbaijan Institute Baku
for Educational Issues Tel + (994-12) 93 33 44 / 93 48 10
Mr Farid Mammadov Xanqani 49 Baku
Ministry of Education Tel + (994-50) 317 59 60
Fax + (994-12) 96 07 03 / 47 34 31
email: faridm@box.az
Mr Fuad Muradov Boejuek Gala, 22
Coordinator 370004 Baku
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS 199
Baku Branch of IIZ/DVV Tel + (994-12) 97 49 85/Fax 97 49 86

Projekt Office Caukasus Fax + (994-12) 97 49 86
email: muradov@iizdvv-az.org
Ms Rena Tahmazova
Baku State University 23, Khalilov Str.
370073 Baku
Tel + (994-12) 390 858 / 390 515
Fax + (994-12) 983 376
BELARUS
Ms Nina Koshel 8, Ulianovskaya Str.
Associate Professor Minsk 220050
Academy of Post-Diploma Education Tel + (375-17) 209 52 65
Lyceum of Belarusian State University Fax + (375-17) 226 00 50
email: lyceum@bsu.by
Ms Iryna Lapitskaya ul. Korolia 16-228
Belarusian Parents’ and Teachers’ League Minsk 220004
“Step by Step” Tel/Fax + (375-17) 206 4817
email: s tbyst@open.by
Mr Henadzi Palchyk 8, Ulianovskaya Str.
Associate Professor Minsk 220050
Headmaster Tel + (375-17) 209 52 65/Fax 226 00 50
Lyceum of Belarusian State University email: lyceum@bsu.by
BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA
Mr Emir Avdagic Branilaca Sarajeva 24
IIZ/DVV Sarajevo 71000 Sarajevo
Tel + (387-33) 215 252/Fax 215 253
email: iizdvvbh@bih.net.ba
Ms Klelija Balta Amica Educa Tuzla
Klosterska 13
75000 Tuzla
Tel + (387-35) 248 910/Fax 248 911
email: educa@bih.net.ba
Mr Dragan Marinkovic Sime Matavulja 6
Community Dev‘t Project Manager 78 000 Banja Luka
Zdravo da ste – Hl Neighbour Republic of Srpska
Tel/Fax + (387-51) 218 363
email: zdravo@blic.net
Mr Jusuf Ziga Obala Kulina bana 7/II
University of Sarajevo 71000 Sarajevo
Tel + (387-33) 663 392/ Fax 663 393
email: bkcsarajevo@smartnet.ba
BULGARIA
Ms Maria Antova 125 Tzarigradsko shossee Plvd, Bl.5
Vice President 1113 Sofia

National Agency for Vocational Tel +(359-2) 750223/Fax 9733358
Education and Training M.Antova@navet.government.bg
Mr Ventzislav Arnaudov 15 Graf Ignatiev Str.
Director Sofia 1000
Human Resource Development Center Tel +(359-2) 9155010
email: hrdc@hrdc.bg
Ms Milka Atanasova 82 Al. Stamboliisky Blvd.
Vice-President 1303 Sofia
Znanie Federation Tel./Fax +(359-2) 9299111
email: atanasova@fnpp.uni-sofia.bg
Ms Irina Boltcheva 2A Dondukov
Senior Expert Sofia 1000
European Integration ept. Tel +(359-2) 9217550/Fax 9880600
Ministry of Education and Science email: i.bolcheva@minedu.govern-
ment.bg
Ms Lydia Dachkova 36, Solunska Street
President Sofia 1000
Bulgarian Reading Association Tel + (359-2) 980 97 40/Fax 980 77 40
email: ldachkova@osf.bg
Ms Radosveta Drakeva 1 Pozitano Sq.
Project coordinator Sofia 1000
Znanie Sofia Tel. +(359-2) 9872733?Fax 9874950
email: office@znanie-bg.org
Ms Penka Ganova 2A Dondukov
Director, Vocational Education Sofia 1000
and Training Tel +(359-2) 9217427/Fax 9813656
Ministry of Education and Science P.Ganova@minedu.government.bg
Ms Greta Dobreva 2 Triaditza
Expert Sofia 1051
Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs Tel +(359-2) 9332424
email: greta@mlsp.government.bg
Ms Liljana Dobroslavska 2 Triaditza
Chief Expert – VET Sofia 1051
Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs Tel +(359-2) 9333021
email: training@mlsp.government.bg
Ms Ljubov Draganova 2A Dondukov
Director – Euro-Integration Sofia 1000
Ministry of Education and Science Tel +(359-2) 9217445/Fax 9880600
L.Draganova@minedu.government.bg
Ms Yulia Jordanova Znanie Pleven
Director 1 Al. Stambolijski,5. floor,
Room 519,
Post Box 164
Pleven
Tel/Fax + (359-64) 801142
email: znanie_pl@infotel.bg
Ms Rossitza Kjutchukova 125 Tzarigradsko shausse Blvd, Bl. 5
Expert – International Affairs Sofia 1113
National Institute of Education Tel. +(359-2) 717224/Fax 702062
Ms Liliana Litkova 2A Dondukov
Director Sofia 1000
Directorate Bilateral Cooperation Tel +(359-2) 9217550 / 9217650
Fax:+(359-2) 9880600
L.Litkova@minedu.government.bg
Ms Donka Mihailova 44 Targovska
Director Lovetch 5500, Bulgaria
Znanie Lovetch Tel/Fax +(359-68) 27952
email: dr-z@lv.bia-bg.com
Ms Katja Mileva 58 Aleko Bogoridi Boul.
Director Burgas,
Znanie Burgas Tel +(359-56) 843248/Fax 843308
email: drz@unacs.bg
Ms Rossitza Penkova 125 Tzarigradsko shausse Blvd, Bl. 5
Director Sofia 1113
National Institute of Education Tel. +(359-2) 717224/Fax 702062
email: r.penkova@nie.bg
Ms Evgenia Petkova 15 Graf Ignatiev Str.
Vice-Director Sofia 1000
Human Resource Development Center Tel +(359-2) 9155010
email: hrdc@hrdc.bg
Ms Irina Radevska 2A Dondukov
Chief-Expert Sofia 1000
State Policy in Higher Education Tel +(359-2) 9811806
Ministry of Education and Science i.radevska@ minedu.government.bg
Ms Yulia Simeonova 1 Macedonia Sq
Project manager Sofia 1040
KNSB Tel. +(359-2) 9170472/Fax 9885969
knsb-blg@mail.technolink.com
Ms Ruslana Stanceva 42 Prchevich Str.
Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce Sofia 1000
and Industry Tel. +(359-2) 9896251/Fax 9873209
email: education@bcci.bg
Ms Bonka Hristova 2A Dondukov
Chief-Expert Sofia 1000
Locational Education and Training Tel +(359-2) 9217425
Ministry of Education and Science
Mr Roumen Valtchev 31 Dobromir Hriz
President Sofia 1124

Open Education Center Foundation email: oec@internet-bg.net
Mr Vassil Zahariev 125 Tzarigradsko shossee Plvd, Bl.5
President 1113 Sofia
National Agency for Vocational Tel +(359-2) 750223/Fax 9733358
Education and Training v.zahariev@navet.government.bg
CANADA
Mr James Page 400 Cooper Street
Director Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R5
Innovation and Quality Services Tel + (1-613) 947 2484/293 9638
Treasury Board of Canada Fax + (1-613) 954 9094
Secretariat, Service Improvement Initiative email: page.jamesE@tbs-sct.gc.ca
Mr Serge Wagner C.P. 8888
Département des sciences de l’education Montréal, Québec H3C 3P8
Université du Québec à Montréal Tel + (1-514) 987 7005
Fax + (1-514) 987 4608
email: wagner.serge@uqam.ca
CROATIA
Mr Damir Matkovic Vojnoviccva 42/2
President 1000 Zagreb
Croatian Association for the Tel + (385-1) 4551 614/Fax 4553 628
Education of Adults email: hznos@zg.tel.hr
Ms Jasenka Matkovic Vojnoviccva 42/2
Croatian Association for the 1000 Zagreb
Education of Adults Tel + (385-1) 4551 614/Fax 4553 628
Mr Josip Milat Badaliceva 24
Assistant Minister 10000 Zagreb
Ministry of Education and Sports Tel + (385-1) 3820 246/Fax 3631 536
Institute for Education Development email:josip.milat@mips.hr
Ms Branimira Mrak Zavojna 8
Coordinating Office 10000 Zagreb
IIZ/DVV Hrvatska Tel + (385-01) 4666 007
email:branimira_mrak@hotmail.com
Ms Vesna M. Puhovski Kralja Drzislava 12
Forum for Freedom in Education 1000 Zagreb
Tel + (385-1) 466 3505/Fax 466 3503
email:vmpuhovski@fso.hr
Mr Niksa Nikola Soljan Mirmarska 30
10000 Zagreb
Tel + (385-1) 6113 114/Fax 6154 521
email: educa@email.hinet.hr
CYPRUS
Mr.Clitos Symeonidis Post Office Box 4019
Cyprus Adult Education Association Nikosia
Tel. + 3572 512 778/Fax 512 784
email: ymeonides.k@cytanet.com.cy
ESTONIA
Ms Tiina Jääger Vilmsi 55
Secretary-General 10147 Tallin
Non-Formal Adult Education Association Tel + (372) 6009 366/Fax 6009 369
email: evhl@vilmsi.ee
Ms Terje Haidak Munga 18
Political Advisor 50088 Tartu
Ministry of Education Tel + (372) 7350 226/Fax 7350 220
email: Terje.Haidak@hm.ee
Ms Ene Käpp Valge 10
Secretary General 11413 Tallinn
AEAE ANDRAS Tel + (372) 6211 674/Fax 6211 670
email:andras@andras.ee
Ms Talvi Märja Valge 10
Board Member 11413 Tallinn
UNESCO National Committee Tel + (372) 6211 674/Fax 6211 670
President, AEAE ANDRAS email: talvi@andras.ee
FINLAND
Mr Matti Ropponen Yliopistonkatu 10 B, 4th floor
Secretary-General Helsinki
Adult Education Council Tel + (358-9) 1607 7079
Ministry of Education Fax + (358-9) 1607 7791
email: Matti.Ropponen@minedu.fi
GEORGIA
Ms Liana Katsitadze Bozvadze Ave. 5
IIZ/DVV Caucasus Tbilisi
Bureau Tel/Fax + (99-532) 921 497
email: Katsitadze@iiz-dvv.ge
Mr Giorgi Matiashvili Uznadze Ave. 52
Ministry of Education of Georgia Tbilisi
Tel + (99-532) 957 612
Mr Vakhtangi Sartania Chavchavadze Ave. 32
Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani Tbilisi
Pedagogical University Georgia
Tel + (99-532) 223 581/Fax 294 713
email: Sulkhan@Saba.edu.ge
Mr Nikoloz Shakulashvili Bozvadze Ave. 5
IIZ/DVV Caucasus Bureau Tbilisi

Georgia
Tel/Fax + (99-532) 921 497
email: n.schaku@gmx.de
GERMANY
Ms Susanne Lattke Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 38
International Affairs 53113 Bonn
German Institute for Adult Germany
Education (DIE) Tel + (49-228) 3294 121
Fax + (49-228) 3294 4121
email: lattke@die-bonn.de
GREECE
Mr Christos Doukas Acharnon Str
Secretary-General 101 85 Athens
General Secretariat of Adult Education Fax + (30-10) 220 767
Ministry of National Education and email: gsoffice@gsae.edu.gr
Religious Affairs
Mr Evangelos Intzidis Athens

Consultant Fax + (30-10) 2516 111
Hellenic Ministry of Education email: intzidis@gsae.edu.gr or
General Secretariat for Adult Education van@ath.forthnet.gr
Ms Eleni Konti Athens

Consultant Fax + (30-10) 2516 111
Hellenic Ministry of Education email: grafeio_typou@gsea.edu.gr
HUNGARY
Ms Márta Mihalyfi Corvin tér 8
Hungarian Folk High School Society 1255 Budapest
FHS Institute Tel + (36-1) 457 07 33/Fax 4570734
email: mnt@nepfoiskola.hu
Mr János Sz. Tóth Corvin tér 8
EAEA Link Office Budapest 1255 Budapest
Hungarian Folk High School Society Tel + (36-1) 457-07-33 / 457-07-35
Fax + (36-1) 457-07-34
email: mnt@nepfoiskola.hu
Ms Márta Vinnainé Vékony Sárospataki Népfoiskolai Egyesület
Kazinczy u. 23
3950 Sárospatak
Tel/Fax + (36-47) 314 714
email: hom2@axelero.hu
IRELAND
Ms Helen Keogh c/o CDU
National Coordinator VTOS Sundrive Rd

Crumlin
Dublin 12
Tel + (353-1) 453 5487/Fax 4537659
email: helen.keogh@cdu.cdvec.ie
ISRAEL
Dr Rivka Pinness Tel Aviv
Israel Adult Education Association Fax + (972-3) 620 0334
email: pinnesri@netvision.net.il
Dr Eitan Yisraeli Tel Aviv

Israel Adult Education Association Fax + (972-3) 620 0334
email:israelie@agri.huji.ac.il
KAZAKHSTAN
Mr Bolatbek Abdrasilov Ul. Kenesary, 83
Director 473000 Astana
Higher and Secondary Tel + (7-3172) 214 227
Professional Education Fax + (7-3172) 333 779
Ministry of Education and Science email: dvo@kepter.kz
Ms Anuar Iliyasova Ul. Kenesary, 83
Head 473000 Astana
Coordination and Development Section Tel + (7-3172) 333 526
of Secondary Education Department Fax + (7-3172) 333 347
Ministry of Education and Science email:dsonpo@mail.ru
Ms Sapardul Mirseitova Tole bi 31 a
Executive Director 480100 Almaty
CDE Tel/Fax + (7-3272) 915 579
email: smirseit@cde.samal.kz
KOSOVO
Ms Have Balaj Dardani 4/1; D1; nr.9
Prishtina
Tel + (377-44) 164 737
email:hbalaj@hotmail.com
Ms Arijeta Himaduna Bregu I Diellit L1 2/II/5
Faculty of Economy 38000 Prishtina
Prishtina University Tel + (381-38) 544 685
email: arijetahimaduna@hotmail.com
or arih@kfos.org
Ms Melinda Mula 5 Mother Teresa av.
Coordinator Prishtina
Kosovo Education Center Tel/Fax + (381-38) 226 897
Philological Faculty email: Linda_2000a@yahoo.com
KYRGYZSTAN
Mr Yuri Didenko Bishkek
Adult Training Center Tel + (996-312) 243 610
Fax + (996-312) 652 077
email: atckyrg@hotmail.com
Ms Inna Valkova 55A, Logvinenko st.
Soros Foundation Kyrgyzstan Bishkek
Tel + (996-312) 663 475 /
663 495 / 664 218/Fax 663 448
email: inval@accels.éclat.kg
Ms Ischenkul Boldshurowa Sadykowna Tynystanova Str. 257

Minister of Education 720040 Bishkek
Ministry of Education Fax + (996-312) 228 604
email: ishengul@mail.kg
LATVIA
Ms Inga Galvane Merkela Street 11
Executive Director 1050 Riga
Latvian Adult Education Association Tel + (371) 722 1901/Fax 722 2411
email: Inga.laea@parks.lv
Ms Anita Jakobsone Lacplesa Street 27
Project Consultant 1011 Riga
Ministry of Justice Latvia
Republic of Latvia and UNDP Tel + (371) 728 7167/Fax 728 2475
anita.jakobsone@integracija.gov.lv
Mr Janis Karklins Valnu Street 2
Director 1050 Riga
Department of Education Policy Tel / Fax + (371) 704 7916
Ministry of Education and Science email: janis.karklins@izm.gov.lv
Ms Dace Neiburga Pils Square 4 - 206

Secretary-General 1050Riga
Latvian National Commission Tel + (371) 732 5109/Fax 722 2762
for UNESCO email: office@unesco.lv
Mr Toms Urdze Merkela Street 11
President 1050 Riga
Latvian Adult Education Association Tel + (371) 949 5565 (mobile)
Fax + (371) 722 2411
email: toms2000@parks.lv
LITHUANIA
Mr Mindaugas Briedis A. Volano st. 2/7
Secretary-General 2600 Vilnius
Lithuanian National Forum of Education Tel + (370-5) 74 31 64/Fax 61 20 77
Director of Educational Training email: mindaugas.b@smm.lt
and Professional Development Division

Ministry of Education and Science
Ms Liliana Bugailiskyte Sv. Jono st. 11
Educational Programmes Coordinator 2001 Vilnius
Lithuanian National Commission Tel + (370-5) 2107340/Fax 2107343
for UNESCO email: Lile@unesco.lt
Ms Roma Juozaitiene Gele inio Vilko st. 12-507
Chairperson 2600 Vilnius
Lithuanian Association of Tel + (370-5) 61 90 31
Adult Education email: lssa-vilnius@delfi.lt
Mr Aleksandras Targamadze Studentu st. 50-413

Dean 3031 Kaunas
Faculty of Informatics Tel + (370-37) 300351/Fax 300352
Kaunas University of Technology email: dekif@adm.ktu.lt or
a.targamadze@internet.ktu.lt
MACEDONIA
Ms Violeta Ajdinska-Papazovska Skopje
Head email: violetap@mt.net.mk
Foreign Language Department
Worker‘s University
Mr Jordan Angelovski Mosa Pijade bb
Director 1000 Skopje
University of Labour Koco Racin Fax + (389-2) 161 224
email:ruracin1@mt.net.mk
Ms Stanislava Smileva Ul. 11 Okomvri b.b.
Advisor to the President for 1000 Skopje
Education, Science and Culture Tel + (389-2) 119-261/Fax 112 147
President of the Republic of email: s.smileva@president.gov.mk
Macedonia Cabinet
Ms Maja Avramovska-Trpevska Blagoj Strackov 8
IIZ/DVV – Project Office Skopje 1000 Skopje
Tel / Fax + (389-2) 178 106 / 178 270
email: iiz_dvv@mol.com.mk or
maja@iiz-dvv.edu.mk
Mr Zoran Velkovski Bul. Krste Misirkov, b.b.

Leiter der philosophische 1000 Skopje
Fakultät Skopje Tel + (389-2) 212 918 / 116 520 ext. 242
Institut für Pädagogik email: coizv@unet.com.mk
MOLDOVA
Ms Luminita Drumea str. Drumul Viilor 28/52
Executive Director Chisinau
“Intercultural Dialogue” Tel + (373-2) 796 022/Fax 247 593
email: luminadc@yahoo.com
Mr Mihai Paiu 1, Piata Marii Adunari Nationale str.,
Chief of Department Chisinau
Ministry of Education Tel / Fax + (373-2) 232 680
email: paiu@minedu.moldnet.md
Mr Constantin Rusnac Str. A. Corobceanu, 24a
Secretary General 2004 Chisinau
Republic of Moldova UNESCO Tel / Fax + (373-2) 247 593
National Commision email: unesco@moldova.md
Ms Larisa Virtosu 131, 31 August 1989 str.,
EFA Project Manager Chisinau
UNDP Tel + (373-2) 247 557/Fax 220 041
email: larisa.virtosu@undp.org
NORWAY
Mr Sturla Bjerkaker Oslo
Secretary-General email: sturla.bjerkaker@vofo.no
Norwegian Association for Adult
Learning
POLAND
Mr Henryk Bednarczyk Ul. K. Pulaskiego 6/10
Institute for Terotechnology 26-600 Radom
email:instytut@itee.radom.pl
Ms Sulislawa Byczkowska 83-315 Szymbark
Kashubian Folk High School Wiezyca
email:wiezyca@kfhs.com.pl
Ms Anna Foksowicz Al. Szucha 25
Ministry of National Education 00-918 Warsaw
and Sport email: foksowic@meins.gov.pl
Mr Tomasz Goban-Klas Al. Szucha 25
Secretary of State 00918 Warsaw
Ministry of National Education Tel / Fax + (48-22) 629 71 11
and Sport email: tgoban@menis.gov.pl
Ms Ewa Przybylska ul. J.S. Bacha 10
IIZ/DVV Project Office 02-743 Warsaw
email: iiz-dvv@medianet.pl
ROMANIA
Ms Octavia Costea 37, Stirbei-Voda str.
Senior Researcher & Lecturer Bucharest 707 331
Institute for Educational Sciences Tel + (40-21) 3136 491/Fax 3121 447
University of Bucharest email: octavia.costea@ise.ro
Ms Mariana Matache Str. Slanic Nr. 12, et. 3, ap. 4
Head 70446 Bucharest
IIZ/DVV Tel/Fax + (40-21) 319 12 22

/ 314 77 78 / 313 58 83
email: iizdvvro@fx.ro
Ms Maria Olariu Piata Tandafirilor nr. 57
Universitatea Populara Targu Mures Targu Mures
Judetul Mures
Tel/Fax + (40-21) 265 251 118
email: olariu@yahoo.com
RUSSIA
Mr Oleg Borissovich Chikurov Naberezhnaya Reki Velikoi 6
Pskov Regional Adult Education Pskov
Association Tel + (7-811-2) 163 726/Fax 223000
email: olegch@volny.edu
Mr Nikolaj Mitrocanovitch Kanaev Gogolevsky Boulevard, 10
President 119019 Moscow
Russian Association for Adult Education Tel + (7-095) 2906327
Coordinator, Russian National Fax + (7-095) 290 58 39
Commission for UNESCO email: unescofound@mtu-net.ru
Deputy Director-General,
International Moscow Foundation
for Support to UNESCO
Mr Oleg Nikolajevitch Smolin 2, Georgiavsky per.
Deputy of the State Duma Moscow 103265
(comp. M Vladimir Lazoutkine) Tel + (7-095) 292 00 68
Vice-Chairman, the Committee Fax + (7-095) 292 96 76
on Education and Science email: smolin@duma.gov.ru
SERBIA and MONTENEGRO

Mr Ivan Ivic Jovana Bijelica 7/11
UNESCO 11000 Beograd
Tel + (381-11) 466 375/Fax 625 673
Mr. Miroslav Milosevic Atos SLS “P.Lubarda”
81250 Centinje
Tel.: 00381 86 33 600
email: atos@cg.yu
Ms Snezana Medic Gospodar Jevremova 15
11000 Beograd
Tel + (381-11) 620 907
email: smedic@eunet.yu
Ms Mirjana Milanovic Stevana Filipovica 29/35
Ministry of Education 11000 Beograd
Tel + (381-11) 650 475
email:mirasas@eunet.yu
Ms Katarina Popovic Drustvo za obrazovanje odraslih
IIZ/DVV Beograd
Vuka Karadzica 12
11000 Beograd
Tel + (381-11) 634 674/Fax 625 673
email: iiz-dvv@eunet.yu
SLOVAKIA
Mr Vaclav Dostal Pekarska 40
Director 918 56 Trnava
Educational Center Tel + (421-33) 5514306/Fax 5511637
XAkademia vzdelavania email: avtrnava@avtrnava.sk
Mr Dusan Kulich Stromova 1
Director 813 30 Bratislava
Department of Continuing Education Tel + (421-2) 593 74 209
Ministry of Education of the Fax + (421-2) 547 74 368
Slovak Republic email: kulich@education.gov.sk
Mr Klaudius Silhar Gorkeho 10
Akademia vzdelavania 815 17 Bratislava
Tel + (421-2) 5441 4612
Fax + (421-2) 5441 0039
email: silhar@aveducation.sk
SLOVENIA
Mr Zoran Bizjak Ulica Rezke Dragarjeve 9
1210 Ljubljana
Tel + (386-1) 5127620/Fax 512 76 25
email: ZTZ@VOLJA.NET
Ms Vida A. Mohorcic Smartinska 134a
Director 1000 Ljubljana
Slovenian Institute for Tel + (386-1) 5842560/Fax 5245881
Adult Education email: vida.mohorcic.spolar@acs.si
Ms Vera Nuhijev Tupanciceva 6
Ministry of Education, Science and Sports 1000 Ljubljana
Department for Adult Education Tel + (386-1) 4785380/Fax 4785369
email: vera.nuhijev.galicic@mss.edus.si
Mr Andrej Sotosek Pod jezami 8
Secretary-General Ljubljana
Association of Peoples Universities Tel + (386-1) 5405161/Fax 5402879
of Slovenia email: zvcza.lu-slo@guest.arnes.si
SPAIN
Ms Montserrat Morales Corraliza Coordinator
Ms Isabel García-Longoria Serrano Populares (FEUP)

Los Madrazo, 3-1°
28014 Madrid
Tel + (34-91) 521 91 08/Fax 5231087

Ms Rosa María Falgàs C/Rutlla, 20-22
ACEFIR-EAEA 17002 Gerona
Catalunya
Tel + (34-972) 200785/Fax 203 169
email: acefir@support.org or
eaea-support@eaea.org
Ms Marta Soler Gallart email:martasg@psi.ub.es
Center for Social and Educational
Research (CREA)
University of Barcelona
Mr Francisco Martos Ortiz Los Madrazo, 3-1°
Vice-president 28014 Madrid
Federación Española e Universidades Tel + (34-91) 5219108
Populares (FEUP) Fax + (34-91) 523 10 87
SWEDEN
Ms Ylva Malm 106 20 Stockholm
Director of Education Tel + (46-8) 527 333 70/Fax 244 20
National Agency for Education email: ylva.malm@skolverket.se
SWITZERLAND
Mr Bruno Santini-Amgarten c/o Arbeitsstelle für Bildung
President der Schweizer Katholiken ABSK
Sektion Bildung und Gesellschaft der Postfach 2069
Schweizerischen UNESCO-Kommission 6002 Luzern
Tel + (41-41) 210 50 55/Fax 2105056
email: info@absk.ch
TAJIKISTAN
Mr Farrukh Tyuryaev p/b 49
General Director, ASTI Dushanbe 735700
Association of Scientific and Fax + (992) 3422 27996
Technical Intelligentisia email: farrukh@asti.khj.tajik.net
Ms Zarina Usmanova Tolstoy Str 59
Program Coordinator Dushanbe
/OSI Tajikistan Tel + (992-372) 213 260
/211 958/242 275/Fax 510 142
email: usmanova@osi.tajik.net
TURKEY
Ms Zuhal Gokcesu Milli Egitim Bakanligi
Head of Department Disiliskiler Genel Mudurlugu
General Directorate for 06648 Bakanliklar
External Relations Ankara
Tel + (90-312) 4131694/Fax 4188289
email: zgokcesu@meb.gov.tr
Mr Yuksel Ozdamgaci Milli Egitim Bakanligi

Section Director Ilkogretim Genel Mudurlugu
General Directorate for 06648 Bakanliklar
Primary Education Ankara
Tel + (90-312) 4131614/Fax 4177105
email: rdogan@meb.gov.tr
Mr Esat Sagcan Milli Egitim Bakanligi
Director General Ciraklik ve Yaygin Egitim
Apprenticeship and Non-Formal Genel Mudurlugu
Education Teknik Okullar
06500 Besevler
Ankara
Tel + (90-312) 2129956/Fax 9958
email: esagcan@meb.gov.tr
Ms Nihal Sener Milli Egitim Bakanligi
Section Director Disiliskiler Genel Mudurlugu
General Directorate for External 06648 Bakanliklar
Relations Ankara
Tel + (90-312) 4131707/Fax 4188289
email:rdogan@meb.gov.tr
UKRAINE
Ms Eugenia R. Chernyshova Pr. Peremohy 10
Deputy Head of Department Kiev 01135
Ministry of Education and Science Tel + (380-44) 2162442/Fax 2741049
Ms Svetlana Poznyak 3, Saksahanskoho St. (room 202)
Project Coordinator 01033 Kiev
Education for Democracy in Tel / Fax + (380-44) 5360 196
Ukraine Project email: efdu@gilan.uar.net
Mr Valentyn P. Romanenko Pr. Peremohy, 10
Director Kiev 01135
Department of Secondary Tel + (380-44) 2162442
and Pre-School Education Fax + (380-44) 2741 049
Ministry for Education and Science
Mr Vadym Sabluk 1, Mykhailivska Square
First Secretary 1018 Kiev
National Commission of Ukraine Tel + (380-44) 238 1691
for UNESCO Fax + (380-44) 229 5926
Ministry of Foreign Affairs email: sabluk@mfa.gov.ua
UNITED KINGDOM
Ms Susan Cara 21, De Monfort Street
Associate Director Leicester LE1 7GE
National Organization for Adult Tel + (44-116) 2044200/Fax 2854514
Learning (NIACE) email:sue.cara@niace.org.uk
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Ms Marcie Boucouvalas 7054 Haycock Road
Adult Educator Falls Church
Virginia Tech/Northern VA Virginia 22043
Graduate Center Tel + (1-703) 5388469/Fax 5388465
email: marcieqvt.edu or
marcie9@attglobal.net
Mr Rudolph Vrugtman 8001 Natural Bridge Road
University of Missouri St Louis St. Louis MO 63121-4499
School of Education Tel + (1-314) 6500453/Fax 5165942
email: rpvstl@sbcglobal.net
UZBEKISTAN
Ms Dildora Alimbekova 41, Afrosiab street
Chairperson Tashkent 700015
Business Women’s Association
of Uzbekistan
Ms Gulandom Alimova 80, Uzbekistan street
Director Tashkent 700027
Republican Education Center
Ministry of Public Education of Uzbekistan
EFA National Coordinator
Mr Uwe Gartenschläger General Karimov So’chasi 44
IIZ/DVV Tashkent Tashkent
Tel/Fax + (998-71) 1522 108 / 1205 536
email: info@iizdvv.online.uz
Mr Alisher Ikramov 54, Buyuk Ipak Yuli street
Secretary-General Tashkent 700077
National Commission of the Tel + (998-712) 67 05 61
Republic of Uzbekistan Fax: + (998-712)) 67 05 38/42
for UNESCO email: unesco@natcom.org.uz
Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan
Mr Erkin Imamov 3, Pahtakor street
Director Shaykhantahur District
Institute of Higher Education Tashkent 700011
Ministry of Higher and Secondary
Specialized Education
Mr Moyli Lafasov Mustakillik Platz 5
Secondary Specialized Professional 700078 Tasahkent
Education Center Fax + (998-71) 1391 219
email:dyadya5@yahoo.com
Ms Elena Sabirova “Bilim va jamiyat”
Tscholponata Str. 53a
700113 Tashkent
email: lenas@mail.tps.uz
Mr Habibulla Ubaydullaev Mustakillik Platz 5

Secondary Specialized Professional 700078 Tashkent
Education Centre Fax + (998-71) 1391 219
email: dyadya5@yahoo.com
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Ms Monika Oels Rue de la Loi 200
Administrator/Seconded National Expert 1049 Brussels
Belgium
Tel + (32-2) 2994725/Fax 2964258
email: Monika.Oels@cec.eu.int
UNICEF
Mr Nikolaus van der Pas Rue de la Loi 200
Director General for Education 1049 Brussels
and Culture Belgium
Ms Elena Misik Macedonia
Education and Youth Officer email: elenab@unicef.org.mk
Ms Nora Sabani Macedonia

Early Childhood Officer
WORLD BANK
Ms Aya Aoki 1818 H Street, N.W. MSN G8-800
Education Specialist Washington, DC 20433
Human Development Network United States of America
Education Department Tel + (1-202) 458 2197/Fax 522 3233
email: aaoki@worldbank.org
UNESCO
Mr John Daniel 7 place de Fontenoy
Assistant Director-General of Education 75352 Paris 07 SP
ADG/ED France
Tel + (33-1) 45681047/Fax 45685627
email: j.daniel@unesco.org
Mr Alexander Sannikov 7 place de Fontenoy
Chief of Section, ED/EO/RIC 75352 Paris 07 SP
Education Sector France
UNESCO Tel + (33-1) 45680875/Fax 45685627
email: a.sannikov@unesco.org
UNESCO INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATION

Ms Carolyn Medel-Añonuevo Tel + (49-40) 44 80 41 25
Senior Research Specialist / email: c.medel-anonuevo@unesco.org
Project Coordinator
Ms Bettina Bochynek Tel + (49-40) 44 80 41 44

Research Specialist email: b.bochynek@unesco.org
Mr Adama Ouane Tel + (49-40) 44 80 41 30
Director email:a.ouane@unesco.org
Ms Madhu Singh Tel + (49-40) 44 80 41 26
Senior Program Specialist email: m.singh@unesco.org
SOFIA TEAM
Mr. Johann Theessen, Director IIZ/DVV-Sofia
Ms.Emilia Ilieva, Project Coordinator Knjaz Boris Str. No 147
Ms. Maria Todorova 1000 Sofia
Mr. Svetoslav Burgasliev Tel + 359 2 983 65 43
Ms. Vania Dineva Fax + 359 2 983 64 82
Ms. Ina Toncheva
Mr. Georgi Iliev
Mr. Vladislav Denishev
Ms. Adriana Slavcheva (Intern)
Ms. Adriana Kehayova
IIZ/DVV
Mr Heribert Hinzen Tel + (49-228) 97569-0/Fax 9756955
Director of Institute email: hinzen@iiz-dvv.de
Mr Michael Samlowski Tel + (49-228) 97569-0/Fax 9756955
Deputy Director email: samlowski@iiz-dvv.de
Mr Sebastian Welter Tel + (49-228) 97569-0/Fax 9756955
email: welter@iiz-dvv.de
Ms Rita Süssmuth Abgeordnetenbüro
President Unter den Linden 71
German Adult Education Association 11011 Berlin
Germany
Tel + (49-30) 22777998/Fax 227776998
OBSERVERS
Egypt
Ms Laila Iskandar Kamel 11 El Gabalaya St.
Managing Director Zamalek, 3rd Floor, Suite 9
CID - Community & Institutional Cairo
Development Tel + (202) 7380832/Fax 7352660
email: laila@cid.com.eg
México
Mr Carlos Zarco Mera Toledo No. 46
Secretary General Colonia Juárez
Consejo de Educación de Adultos de CP 06600
América Latina (CEAAL) Tel + (52-55) 5533 1755 / 5533 0349
Fax + (52-55) 5514 0610
email: czarco@laneta.apc.org
ceaal@laneta.apc.org
South Africa
Ms Shirley Walters 22 Rhodes Drive
Director Kirstenbosch 7800
Division for Lifelong Learning Tel + (27-21) 95 93 339/Fax 9592481
University of Western Cape email: ferris@iafrica.com
Commonwealth Secretariat
Ms Amina Osman Marlborough House
Senior Programme Officer Pall Mall
HRDD, Commonwealth Secretariat London SW1Y 5HX
United Kingdom
Tel + (44-20) 77476553/Fax 77476287
email: a.osman@commonwealth.int
ICAE
Ms Maria Bonino Leyenda Patria 2948
International Council for Adult Montevideo
Education (ICAE) Uruguay
Tel / Fax + (982-2) 710 1226
email: mbonino@chasque.net
UNESCO
Ms Susanne Schnüttgen 7, place de Fontenoy
Program Specialist 75007 Paris
Focal Point for the Collective France
Consultation of NGOs on EFA Tel + (33-1) 456 82141
UNESCO Fax + (33-1) 456 85626 / 27
email: s.schnuttgen@unesco.org
Lifelong Learning Discourses in Europe contains a
selection of papers presented during the Regional
Conference on Lifelong Learning in Europe: Mov-
ing towards EFA Goals and CONFINTEA V Agenda
held in Sofia, Bulgaria from Nov. 6-9, 2002. Bring-
ing together almost 200 participants from 40 coun-
tries in Europe, North America and the Common-
wealth of Independent States, this was a precedent
setting meeting as 1) it was the first meeting held
at the regional level which covered the three areas
of Lifelong Learning, Education for All and Adult
Education; 2) it was the first gathering at the re-
gional level to bring together participants from gov-
ernment, non-government organizations, research
institutes and academe; and 3) it was the first at-
tempt ever made to problematize the relationships
across the three policy discourses.
This meeting was made possible through the com-

bined efforts of the Ministry of Education and Sci-
ence, Bulgaria; the Grundtvig Program of the Eu-
ropean Commission; UNESCO and its Institute of
Education (UIE); European Association for the
Education of Adults (EAEA); and the Institute for
International Cooperation of the German Associa-
tion of Adult Education (IIZ-DVV).

Lifelong Learning in Europe

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r

UNESCO Institute for Education

The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this

© UNESCO Institute for Education, 2003

Produced and Printed in the Philippines

UNESCO Institute for Education

I. Unpacking Lifelong Learning Discourses

Meeting the Challenges of Lifelong Learning • 17

New Topologies in European Policies:

Lifelong Learning: Seeking Constants

II. Facing the Challenges of EFA in Europe

Towards EFA Goals: Situation in Latvia

Reaching the Excluded for Education for All • 73

Gains in Literacy Campaigns in Turkey • 99

III. Reviewing Adult Education Practices

Adult Education in Serbia:

New Lines and Dimensions for the

The Role of NGOs in Adult Education:

The Challenges of Teacher Training in Albania • 157

Mobilizing for Learning at the Crossroads

Sofia Conference Call to Action • 189

List of Participants • 197

L ifelong learning has been one of the more dominant concepts in

egates from 40 countries in Europe, North America and the Com-

A ll the productive and insightful work and processes mentioned

D iscourses, according to Foucault, are “ways of constituting

*Senior Research Specialist/Project Coordinator, UNESCO In-

cluded in the Appendix, we intend to unravel the rich texture of

conference allowed us to appreciate the nuances and complexities of

lustrates the role and activities of NGOs in adult education in Croatia.

“Learning—The Treasure Within”

I n Brussels, we are currently very much aware of Bulgaria. This is

*Director-General for Education and Culture, European Commis-

UNESCO context, a previous President of European Commission,

From Educational Policies to Policies for

also, if there is free mobility of workers or service providers, should

cil and the Council of Ministers of Education have accepted that

their own country an indication of work possibilities but also to link

done and moreover, the approach needs to changed. It should not

Some are doing better but it goes up to two. If we want to catch up

happens to be a friend, that is perhaps not only a useful but a

I n view of the forthcoming eastward expansion of the European

*President, German Adult Education Association.

fields of work. This is particularly true in the light of growing diver-

However, we should remember that when women started read-

The Particular Place of Adult Education in

dominates conference debates and symposia, we have to admit that

development and implementation of the concept of lifelong learn-

Creativity in Shaping Europe

tion without any financial basis, and most efforts at international

port and accelerate the establishment and development of adult edu-

T he concept of lifelong learning (LLL) is not a new one.

*Secretary-General, General Secretariat of Adult Education, Min-

sonal life. The new framework is based on the reorganization of learn-

learning, so that learning is extended in every space of life—

Education. These nodes are connected with the educational com-

Second Chance Schools

more will be functioning in 2003. It is estimated that twenty more

Centers for Adults Learning

Figure 2. Learning in the Cities

Learning Cities / Regions in the Framework

Learning within the community involves both individual learn-

Figure 3. The Learning City

“Learning City” is identified as a set of relations and links be-