More about project

The project encompassed two parts in terms of content:

Literacy Development

The level of education and educational opportunities represent an important factor for the development and improvement of human capital which in turn boosts productivity, competitiveness as well as social and cultural capital. People who are excluded from lifelong learning represent a threat to the preservation of economic competitiveness and social cohesion in modern societies. This is why the White Paper on Education in the Republic of Slovenia 2011 (hereinafter: White Paper) places a special focus on adults with incomplete secondary education and characteristics that rank them among vulnerable adult groups such as the elderly, young dropouts, migrants, special needs persons, ethnic minorities and men. New options and opportunities must be created for groups that are deprived in terms of inclusion in lifelong learning, i.e. for their inclusion in learning and acquisition of basic capabilities and key competences for success on the labour market and for social inclusion. We can achieve this by developing a suitable and quality programme offer, suitable education and training of expert associates and the creation of suitable and high-quality study resources.

Over the last two decades, the Slovenian Institute of Adult Education has been developing new approaches and programmes for marginalized adult groups. It trained a network of providers and expert associates for this work. They implement these programmes in their local environments and in some places also develop new programmes adapted to the local characteristics and needs. As part of the Adult Literacy Development sub-project, we assessed the suitability, accessibility, quality and effectiveness of the part of the non-formal educational offer for adults that contributes to the development of literacy and key adult competences or encourages the continuation or re-inclusion of adults in education, the labour market or the society. By updating the educational offer, we created new options and opportunities for groups that are deprived in terms of inclusion in lifelong learning, i.e. for their inclusion in learning and acquisition of basic abilities and new knowledge for success on the labour market and for social inclusion.

The basic goals of the sub-project were as follows:

  • evaluation of publicly recognised programmes for adult literacy development (a total of 7 programmes) and programmes for the training of expert associates (6 programmes );
  • design of expert groundwork and overhaul of programmes for target groups and expert associates;
  • design of expert groundwork and scenarios for the development of 5 ICT resources for adults;
  • preparation and pilot implementation of a new programme for young dropouts and programme for expert associate training;
  • promotion and notification of the professional public on project results.

Project results support the realisation of the goals and measures outlined in the White Paper where the proposals for solutions for non-formal education state that it is in the public interest to ensure the development of new educational forms, programmes and initiatives for vulnerable target groups that are intended for the development of basic skills and key competences to support social inclusion and inclusion in information and communication flows.

The results of the work in the area of the Adult Literacy Development part of the project are published here.

Determination and Recognition of the Benefits of Non-Formal Learning

Informally acquired knowledge is invaluable for the society and is a mandatory supplementation of formal knowledge. Unrecognised and unutilised knowledge represents a great “loss” for both the economy and the society. The evaluation and recognition of non-formal learning and experience is therefore one of the key measures that supports the realisation of the lifelong learning concept and strategy as it enables the evaluation and recognition of all learning regardless of the stage in one’s life and the learning environment, in which the learning takes place.

The results of the Determination and Recognition of the Benefits of Non-Formal Learning part of the project are presented here.

The results of the two and a half year-long project were presented to the professional public at the closing conference entitled Creating New Opportunities for Adults that was held on 7 December 2011 at Grand hotel Union in Ljubljana. The conference resources are available on the website of the project closing conference.

The entire project represented an important professional deliberation on our rate of success in Slovenia in including vulnerable adult groups in education and training and on the good practices and guidelines for the future work of adult educators in this area in the coming years. We have made several important strides in the development of the concept for the evaluation and recognition as well as classification of adult education. Meetings with the providers of various professional and political activities in this area and their collaboration in a joint working group, exchange of views and study of cases from the actual practice of evaluation and recognition can significantly increase the future options for the comprehensive systemic regulation of the area of knowledge recognition.

We continued the work within the scope of the project in the 2011–2014 period whereby the biggest challenge was the introduction of programmes that can be overhauled and new programmes into practice as well as tackling development challenges such as:

  • recognition of informally acquired knowledge;
  • consulting and support work for the members of vulnerable groups prior to, during and after their inclusion in education;
  • updating of the basic training of expert associates in terms of the development and ascertainment of basic abilities and key competences of adults in local environments;
  • permanent professional improvement of expert associates and care for career development;
  • professional and developmental work with the network of institutions that support a favourable environment, programmes and consulting for individuals;
  • creation of suitable systemic conditions for the implementation of programmes that support the achievement of planned programme benefits and
  • commitment to the promotion of literacy and key competences on the national and local levels.
Project details

Project manager at the ACS (Slovenian Institute of Adult Education): Metka Svetina
Project coordinator: Ester Možina, MA (T: 01 5842 591; E: ester.mozina@acs.si)
Project associates for the area of literacy: Petra Javrh, PhD, Katja Bider, and Manuel Kuran
Contract custodian: Marko Šiška
Project value: EUR 443,965.81, 85% or EUR 377,370.93 was contributed by the European Social Fund and 15% or EUR 66,594.88 by the Ministry of the Republic of Slovenia for Education, Science and Sport.
Project implementation period: 1 January 2009 – 31 December 2011