The Regional Project
DVV International has been working in the three countries of the region since 2009: Ukraine (regional office since 2010), Belarus (country office since 2009) and the Republic of Moldova (country office since 2010). However, in the summer of 2021, the registration of the office in Belarus was no longer extended by the authorities, so the work in Belarus had to be stopped at short notice. The common initial situation in the region is characterized by the ongoing transformation processes since the independence of all three states in 1991 and the resulting different economic and socio-political upheavals. Non-formal adult education is not sufficiently anchored in the education systems and the provider structures are weak, although formal education cannot meet the current demand for skilled workers and the social and political challenges also lead to a high demand for easily accessible non-formal education for the broader population.
The nine-year project 2019-2027 focuses on the professionalization of providers of adult education and learning (ALE). The organizational development and the qualification of specialists (managers, teachers) should enable ALE centers in both project countries to reach broad target groups with relevant educational offers and to empower them to improve their personal situation and to participate in economic, social and political life more actively.
In order to improve the framework conditions for the work of ALE providers, the DVV International supports ongoing processes aiming at the development of strategies and legal foundations that should contribute to greater financial stability of ALE provider structures. Based on the results of the first phase, greater public support for ALE will be in the foreground of the proposed follow-up project, in addition to the professionalization of the partners, the implementation of the adopted policy documents (Ukraine: The Law "On Adults Education"; The Republic of Moldova: the "Learning City"). At the end of the phase, the ALE provider structures will be in a better position to further diversify their educational programme and to provide more demand-oriented and needs-based ALE curricula, especially for the socially disadvantaged. Financial support from municipal budgets in the pilot regions of the project will contribute to the stability of the ALE sector.
By promoting the regional exchange of experience, synergies of the subprojects can be achieved – for example, in the acquisition of meaningful data on the continuing education behavior of the population (based on the method of the European "Adult Education Survey" (AES)) and their use in lobbying and advising decision-makers, in the qualification of adult educators according to the Curriculum globALE and in the strengthening and organizational development of the ALE centers according to the Curriculum InstitutionALE.
The subprojects are being implemented on three levels: macro level, meso level, and micro level.
Ukraine
The successes of the interventions of the current phase at the macro level include the development and discussion of the draft law on adult education, as well as several pilot examples of lobbying at the local level, the result of which is the adoption of strategies, programs and action plans by some municipalities. The focus on the meso level is placed on the further professionalization of seven local adult learning centers along their organizational development plans created in the first phase on the basis of the "Curriculum institutionALE" and thus the ability to develop needs-based educational offers for the socially disadvantaged. The AE centers, whose capacities are being strengthened at the mesolevel, will be strengthened at the Micro level Pilot educational programs that contribute to the promotion of income and employment, personality development, and participation of various socially disadvantaged target groups.
Moldova
Despite the political instability, the changes in the framework conditions are an important condition for the development of the subsector. In parallel with the direct interaction with the Ministry of Education and other government agencies, they plan for a stronger mobilization of a wider range of ALE players in the upcoming phase is therefore for the macro level. The main focus on the meso level will be aimed at strengthening the capacities of four ALE providers, including two partners from the first project phase and two new organizations in the "learning cities", in order to provide a diverse, demand-oriented and needs-based offer. The capacities of the AE centers, which have been strengthened at the mesolevel, will pilot educational programs that contribute to the promotion of income and employment, personality development and active participation of various socially disadvantaged target groups at the micro level. The experience of the ongoing phase has shown that the participation of the employees of the partner organizations in capacity building at the mesolevel has enabled the partners to better understand the educational needs of the population and thus to offer more needs-based innovative courses.