Adult education as a way to rebuild the country: what was discussed at the Forum on the Issues of Legal Regulation of Adult Learning and Education in Ukraine?

As a result of the war, millions of Ukrainians have lost their jobs. To support the country's economy, high-quality retraining of people is needed. Also, in order to fight disinformation, it is necessary to conduct events on civic education. In the following material, you can find why it is important to develop adult education today and what role the legislative framework plays in this process.

 

As a result of the war, millions of Ukrainians have lost their jobs. To support the country's economy, high-quality retraining of people is needed. Also, in order to fight disinformation and promote active citizenship, it is necessary to conduct civic education also for adults.

According to a sociological survey conducted by the "Rating" group, about 40% of Ukrainians have lost their jobs as of 2022. It is obvious that for the restoration of the country's economy and the well-being of its citizens, advanced training and retraining have become especially relevant. From the post-war perspective, the issue of reintegration of combatants into society will arise. In this context adult learning and education could contribute a lot.

Adult education in Ukraine includes formal and non-formal segments. Speaking about formal education (postgraduate education, professional development, etc.), this field is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. Also, the training and retraining of Ukrainians is partially handled by the employment centers under the Ministry of Social Policy. Based on the State Policy of Adult Learning and Education in Ukraine (expert study), there are some problems in the area. One of them is the lack of competitive procedures for the allocation of funding and the inefficient use of the state budget funds allocated for the education of adults. Hence, about two billion hryvnias from the state budget is spent on adult education yearly. And the majority of the funds are spent on administrative purposes instead of educational services.

Meanwhile, in many European countries the field of adult education is regulated by special legislation that allows counterfeiting such problems. In February 2022, the European integration bill "On Adult Education" No. 7039 was registered in Ukraine. It aims to provide access to education to all categories of citizens regardless of status, income, employment, etc. The adoption of such a law will open numerous opportunities for the citizens of Ukraine. Hence, there is going to be created an National Adult Learning Support Fund with clear criteria for the allocation of funds. It will be easier for people to acquire new professions or improve their qualifications in some fields through vocational training at adult learning and education centres (ALECs). The quality of educational services will improve. In addition, job seekers will be able to provide potential employers with the so-called "educational portfolio", where all qualifications gained by a person will be displayed in a single database.

In order to draw the stakeholders's attention to the role of adult education in post-war reconstruction, a Forum on the Issues of Legal Regulation of Adult Learning and Education in Ukraine was held on April 6 in Kyiv. The event was jointly organized by the Ukrainian Adult Education Association (UAEA) and the DVV International Representative Office. The forum was supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and sponsopred by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany (BMZ).

The event was attended by Ukrainian and international experts who shared their input and discussed the role of adult education and legislation in this area in the development of countries. Among the guests was the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (The Parliament of Ukraine) Ruslan Stefanchuk, People's Deputy, head of the Subcommittee on Higher Education of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Yuliia Hryshyna, Plenipotentiary Advisor to the President of Ukraine on Barrier-Free Issues Tetiana Lomakina, Regional Director of DVV International for Eastern Neighbours Levan Kvatchadze. The Minister of Education of Sweden (2014-2019) and a former member of the Swedish Parliament, member of the executive committee of the European Association of Adult Education Gustav Fridolin, General Director of the Finnish Lifelong Learning Foundation, member of the executive committee of the European Association of Adult Education Lauri Tuomi, Secretary General of the International Council for Adult Education, Professor Katarina Popović of the University of Belgrade and Professor Anke Grotlüschen from the University Hamburg joined the Forum online.

The high representatives of the Ukrainian parliament and government emphasized in their speeches the importance of supporting adult education at the state level. In particular, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk underlined the crucial role of rapid and high-quality retraining and claimed: "The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the draft law "On Adult Education" as a basis. Currently, more than a thousand amendments have been submitted to it, but this document cannot be delayed." He called on the professional community to make their suggestions. After all, according to him, "through the adoption of the draft law, we should get an effective mechanism so that every Ukrainian has the opportunity to learn lifelong."

For reference, the draft law "On Adult Education" is approved by Verkhovna Rada in the first hearing (January 2023) and it is planned that soon the adoption procedures of the law will be finalised.

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