Policy perspectives
Estonians’ belief: Education is the gateway to enhanced living
Could the outstanding results in Estonia’s general education be translated into adult education? In her column, Maie Kitsing explores the four pillars of the country’s education system. Kitsing serves as Advisor at the General Education Department at the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research.
ICAE’s Guevara: Flexibility and partnering needed in adult education policy
“Given the diverse nature of post-schooling education, we need flexibility in adult education policy, not rigid structures,” argues Robbie Guevara, President of International Council for Adult Education and Associate Professor at RMIT University in Melbourne.
Uwe Gartenschlaeger: Adult education is essential to tackle societal challenges
“If we want to live in peace and democracy, if we want to give everybody a fair chance not to be left behind, we need lifelong learning and adult learning,” says Uwe Gartenschlaeger, President of the EAEA.
Power and joy at the core of EAEA’s new Manifesto for Adult Learning
“The manifesto tells policy makers: Listen, this is what we can do. Adult education is not one small area, but a holistic way of learning and supporting people and communities,” says Gina Ebner, Secretary General of the EAEA.
Isabell Kempf: “Adult education empowers agility in navigating global change”
“Adult education is a human right and a public good helping to create a more resilient, just and sustainable future,” said Isabell Kempf, Director of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, in her keynote address at the EAEA conference in Helsinki.
Duygu Güner: “Ignoring the hidden barriers behind low training participation is no longer an option”
In her Speakers’ Corner column, economist Duygu Güner describes the past year as being marked by an enthusiastic discussion on skills shortages and the imperative of continuous reskilling/upskilling efforts in the EU. Nevertheless, determining how to increase low training participation rates remains the main challenge. Speakers’ Corner columns are produced in cooperation with EAEA, the European Association for the Education of Adults.
Digitalisation and adult wellbeing: from social inclusion to privacy risks
Technology can work wonders. It can speed up work processes and connect people from opposite sides of the world. “All this is possible only if one knows how to use the technology,” warns Charalambos Vrasidas of CARDET.
How does the new EU AI Act affect the adult education sector?
Aiming at protecting fundamental rights and democracy in digital education, that’s for sure. What about the duties and obligations? What are they? All Digital’s Policy Officer Norman Röhner answers three quick questions about the new EU AI Act, which is expected to come into force by June 2024.
Making health literacy everyone’s business: How Ireland got adult and health literacy on the government agenda
Helen Ryan, in her column, tells how a crucial strategy by the new government played a vital role in prioritising health literacy on the national agenda in Ireland. According to her, the most successful way to promote health literacy issues among health professionals was by telling about people’s lived experience. Data and statistics were important, but it was the human stories that resonated the most.
“When I think of resistance, I think of my colleagues”
As war is uprooting lives in Ukraine, adult educators have needed to find flexible solutions to offer the right support. We talked to Oleg Smirnov, who works and lives in Kyiv.
