At the SIAE we are gradually realizing the idea, boldly written in one of the White Papers on adult education, that adults should be able to assess their skills at any time in their lives. Especially after the national adult skills survey 2016, the PIAAC survey again showed Slovenia’s lagging behind in the field of skills on an international scale.
We saw the opportunity to offer adults a possibility to evaluate their skills using the tool Education & Skills Online (shorter: E&S On-line). It is an initiative of the OECD and the EC based on the PIAAC survey after 2013. It is based on the methodology and population estimates of the PIAAC survey. The project can only be carried out by countries that have conducted the PIAAC survey, including Slovenia. Hence, the results of an individual are comparable to national and international ones.
We started to adapt and test the E&S On-line within the current development project of SIAE, Professional Support for the Area of Basic Adult Competences Development 2016–2022 (shorter: Adult Competences Development 2016–2022). At the end of 2018, we also expanded the development project and proposed a suitable implementation model for the introduction of the Slovenian version of the E&S On-line (SVOS) across Slovenia. As part of the implementation model, the National SVOS point has been established at the SIAE. Its role is to provide professional and operational technical support in the implementation of the questionnaire.
Slovenian local SVOS points
Gradually, we are also setting up local skills assessment points, i.e. Local SVOS points. Through local points the project provides access to free assessment for more than 17.000 adults from all over Slovenia. Local points act as a kind of skill labs, mainly because they provide a complete service to adults. Qualified professional experts provide a safe environment for adults’skills assessment. To address the actual state of skills local SVOS points provide counselling after the assessment, followed by an individual education plan and enrolment in educational programmes. Results offer the possibility to adapt learning to actual personal needs. All of these procedures require well-trained adult educators who can do their job well if they have access to accurate data on the educational needs of adults.
First local SVOS points are those organizations who are also actively engaged in lifelong learning and empowerment of competences for successful engagement at work and increasing employment rate. Their programs and activities are dedicated specially to vulnerable adults.
So far we have enabled the skills assessment for adults in 16 local SVOS points in some parts of Slovenia. The plan is to give to each and every adult an opportunity to assess his skills in his local environment. That is why the nest of organizations will be increased further on.
Share good practices with us!
If you have also implemented the E&S On-line questionnaire in your country and you have good practices and results, we will be glad if you share them with us.
This article was also published in the SIAE E-newsletter, 17 December, 2020.