Education and Training Monitor 2024

Comparative report

Chapter 6. Adult learning

6.1. The need for broader participation

Data on the participation of adults in learning are available from two key sources. The Adult Education Survey (AES) and EU Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) have both provided 2022 data on the participation of adults in learning in the 12 months before the survey (Figure 31)⁽³¹⁷⁾. These are the first relevant data to monitor progress towards reaching the 2030 EU-level learning target on adult learning (at least 60% of adults participating in learning annually) and the 2025 adult learning target (at least 47%), which is a milestone towards reaching the 2030 target.

Figure 31. Adult learning participation is limited and uneven across EU countries irrespective of the source used

The 12-month participation data from the two sources yield different findings (Box 16)⁽³¹⁸⁾, with an EU average adult learning participation of 39.5% (AES) versus 25.1% (EU-LFS). Yet several conclusions can be drawn from both sources equally. Firstly, the participation of adults in learning, as an EU average, is too low and its increase too slow given the ever more pressing need⁽³¹⁹⁾ for lifelong skills development ⁽³²⁰⁾. Secondly, participation rates vary a lot across EU countries, with the best performance several times higher than the worst one⁽³²¹⁾. Thirdly, women, on average, participate more than men⁽³²²⁾. Finally, and perhaps most significantly, people most in need of developing skills are the ones who participate the least (Figure 32)⁽³²³⁾.

Increasing the general participation rate requires increasing the participation of low-qualified adults⁽³²⁵⁾. The 2022 AES data show that the participation rate of low-qualified adults remains about one third of the rate of high-qualified adults – 17.9% against 58.1% in 2016 and 18.4% against 58.9% in 2022⁽³²⁶⁾. In 10 EU countries, the rate of low-qualified adults has decreased, sometimes very much so, for instance by about half in Cyprus (from 20.7% to 10.9%) and by a third in Portugal (from 24.2% to 17.0%)⁽³²⁷⁾. The 2022 EU-LFS data on participation in the last 12 months are similar to the 2022 AES data, giving an EU average of 39.7% (high-qualified adults) versus 11.3% (low-qualified adults). This yields a ratio of high-qualified adults to low-qualified adults of 3.5 (compared to a ratio of 3.2 when using the AES 2022 data).

Uneven participation can also be observed among different age groups. According to 2022 AES data, the participation of young adults (25-34-year-olds) was 49.5% compared to just 29.9% for adults nearing the end of their working lives (55-64-year-olds). Similar results can be observed in the 2022 EU-LFS data (33.2% versus 16.7%). Older working-age adults participate proportionally more in countries with high general participation. In Sweden, Hungary, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Slovakia, their participation is over two thirds of young adults’ participation (based on AES 2022), while in Greece, Cyprus, Romania, Bulgaria, and Poland, it is less than one third of young adults’ participation.

Figure 32. Adult learning participation is rare among key target groups irrespective of the source used

Employed adults’ participation rate in the last 12 months (44.7% in the AES, 28.5% in the EU-LFS) is higher than both unemployed adults’ rate (26.8% in the AES, 21.5% in the EU-LFS) and the rate of adults outside the labour force (23.7% in AES, 11.8% in EU-LFS)⁽³²⁸⁾. There are some exceptions. Looking only at AES 2022 data⁽³²⁹⁾, the participation of employed versus unemployed adults is relatively similar in Denmark (50.2% versus 49.9%), Estonia (44.6% versus 42.8%), and the Netherlands (60.4% versus 60.5%). The participation of unemployed adults versus adults outside the labour force is the same or similar in Italy (17.1% versus 17.1%), Hungary (20.7% versus 18.2%), and Slovakia (10.5% versus 10.0%). There are also countries where adults outside the labour force participate in learning much more than unemployed adults do. This is the case in Germany (40.5% versus 31.7%), Finland (46.3% versus 24.8%), and Sweden (62.0% versus 45.0%). Higher participation of adults outside the labour force can be observed more commonly in countries with higher participation rates overall.

Finally, across the EU, urban participation in learning over the last 12 months (43.6% in the AES, 28.7% in the EU-LFS) is higher than participation in suburban areas (38.5% in the AES, 22.8% in the EU-LFS) and rural areas (34.4% in the AES, 22.2% in the EU-LFS), with the rural rate just above three quarters of the urban rate⁽³³⁰⁾. Two exceptions are Belgium and Malta, where rural participation is slightly higher than urban participation, in both surveys. Overall, the gap between rural (and suburban) and urban rates is wider in underperforming countries. For instance, in Bulgaria and Romania, countries with low general participation, rural participation is around one third of urban participation, and suburban participation is around half of what urban participation is⁽³³¹⁾. Increasing participation could be supported by a fairer geographical distribution of learning opportunities⁽³³²⁾.

6.2. Adult learning for sustainability

Adult learning has the potential to have immediate impacts on the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of today’s working-age population. The benefits of school education manifest themselves over a longer period, but adult education and training enable learners to adjust relatively quickly to the rapidly changing labour market, including the green transition.

Competence frameworks such as GreenComp (Chapter 1) can serve as a basis for the development of curricula and learning activities. The curricula of some EU countries are already being revised and complemented with the requirements of the green economy and sustainable development, and new learning modules and courses are being created for both formal and non-formal education and training⁽³³³⁾.

Besides incorporating sustainability into curricula, countries are designing qualifications that address the needs of the green transition, validating relevant non-formal and informal learning, or offering a range of micro-credentials in relevant areas⁽³³⁴⁾. EU countries are carrying out reforms to develop green skills, in some cases with the support of the EU’s Technical Support Instrument⁽³³⁵⁾. Some initiatives have a gender dimension, such as trying to increase the proportion of women in technical professions and green occupations through training in digitalisation, sustainability, and technology⁽³³⁶⁾. Training on sustainable development is being incorporated into the training of civil servants too⁽³³⁷⁾.

As outlined in Chapter 1, making learning environments more sustainable is an important part of learning for sustainability. Ensuring the sustainability of adult learning systems requires investments in infrastructure. This is done by setting up specialised technological centres, improving and updating existing infrastructure, or enabling the acquisition of new technological educational resources aligned with the needs of the green transition⁽³³⁸⁾.

To ensure that training offers are relevant to the labour market, EU countries support cooperation between adult learning providers and companies that engage in green activities. However, employees most in need of reskilling also need to take part in training activities. In 2022, employees in energy-intensive industries participated in learning much less than employees on average did (10.4% compared to 15.7% in the last for weeks)⁽³³⁹⁾.

Adults from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds are less likely to acquire the sustainability competences needed to adjust to the changes resulting from the green transition⁽³⁴⁰⁾. Identifying and addressing these gaps in adult learning is crucial for ensuring fair outcomes for all. Due to the greater flexibility of adult learning, increasing the participation of disadvantaged adults in learning opportunities that are relevant to the labour market plays an important role in preparing the working-age population for the green transition.

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