A distinction is made between

• continuing vocational education and training
• general continuing education
• political continuing education

The degree of formalisation depends on the intention of the learning process and the recognition by state or state-recognised institutions.

• Formal learning as a qualification-related education/continuing education: Structured procedures with pre-set curriculum imposed by authorities with attainments publicly recognised.
• Non-formal learning as nondegree-related education/continuing education: taking into account the needs, wishes and hopes of potential participants.
• informal learning as free, non-institutionalised learning: accidental learning in everyday activities

The new media play a major role in all areas.

The right to continuing education:

The right to the free development of one’s personality is enshrined in various national and international codes. This also entails a state obligation to promote adult education. In Germany, the different national laws form the basis of support, which is accordingly structured differently. Usually a cooperative pluralism of providers (public, church, trade union, etc.) is promoted.

Adult education institutions:

The institutions and providers of public adult education/further education include family education centres, home adult education centres and adult education centres, trade union and church institutions, educational institutions, academies, chamber training centres (e.g. Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Chamber of Crafts), private educational institutions, educational institutions in companies. In addition to teaching and research, continuing education is also one of the statutory tasks of universities (scientific continuing education). The general university entrance qualification can be acquired at an evening high school, by remote instruction or – in daily form – also at a college.

Senior education in Germany:

Senior citizens in Germany have many possibilities for further education; there are many different providers for adult education in Germany.

In every bigger town, there are the so called “Volkshochschulen”. They offer wide-ranging programs from stitching to language courses and book clubs for very little money. They are funded by the state and the municipalities. The catholic and protestant church, the big political parties, various NGO’s and elderly associations offer also statewide educational programs for elderly people. Family centres which are usually offering programs for parents develop more and more programs for elderly people.

Many universities have different kinds of offers for older citizens: Sometimes, elderly are allowed to hear the regular lectures. Some offers are designed for the public like the Studium Generale. In more than 60 German Universities and Highschools, there are special offers for the demands of elderly people like lectures, seminaries and research groups. There are big nation-wide education networks for elderly students at the Universities.

These educational institutions develop numerous offers for non-formal learning in the 3rd phase of life and develop their own profiles in order to reach the target group seniors. Special attention is paid to offers on media education, computers and the Internet.

Offers for certain target groups – migrants, illiterates – have increased considerably recently.

In Germany, general continuing education and senior education are strongly linked to the goal of social participation and intergenerational dialogue.  In many places there is a so-called volunteer office in at least one institution where people of all age groups are advised where they can use their knowledge and skills on a voluntary basis. They also mediate places of deployment. In addition, many institutions offer training for voluntary work in various social fields, social affairs, politics, culture, the environment, sport, etc.

In addition, there are a number of self-organised forms of further education and civic engagement, e.g. senior citizens’ offices or civil society associations, here two examples:

Senior citizens’ offices are information, meeting, counselling and mediation centres at the local level. They are aimed at people aged 50 and over who want to become active for themselves and others. Seniors contribute their competences and develop important ideas and projects for the municipal work with senior citizens. Around 450 senior citizens’ offices throughout Germany offer a wide range of activities. The senior citizens’ offices are united in the Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Seniorenbüros (BaS), which also offers a wide range of further training opportunities.

The association Virtuelles und reales Lern- und Kompetenz-Netzwerk Älterer Erwachsener (ViLE e.V.) is intended to enable senior citizens interested in continuing education to work together in various fields of interest, to support each other and to make their competences available to others (https://www.vile-netzwerk.de/wir-ueber-uns.html)

The Ulm Danube-Networkers is a free association of people promoting education and science in the fields of lifelong learning, social participation and intergenerational dialogue in Europe, particularly in the Danube countries. The aim is to provide impetus for European integration, especially for experts implementing the Danube Strategy of the European Commission in the field of education. Therefore both highly educated people and people with little education have many possibilities.

Nevertheless, highly educated people are easier to activate to take part in the programs. Therefore, it is necessary to find ways to make the offers more appealing to lower educated people and to include a diverse group of people from different backgrounds, above all migrants.

Overall Croatian context is characterised by broad reform process in elementary and secondary education. Most of Ministry of Education efforts are focused just on school reform, which includes new curricula and the process of radical digitalisation of elementary school education. Adult education is a neglected part of education system and is left behind in recent policy process.

Key actors in adult education system are ministries and agencies on national level. At the moment the Ministry of Labour is more influential than the Ministry of Science and Education. The reason for this is linking adult education with labour market. National Agency for VET and adult education is in transformation and in the process of merging with other educational agencies (it is part of the process of de-agencification). Traditional providers of adult education programmes are public open universities (on municipal level), VET schools and NGOs. While open universities and schools deal with continuing VET (formal education), NGOs are focused on liberal education and non-formal education. In Croatia there is very low general participation of adults in lifelong learning (less than 3%) and very low participation of less educated people and people with low level of basic skills. Third age universities (education of people of third age) are active only in Zagreb, Rijeka, and Umag. Other programmes for learning in later life are organised in libraries, NGOs and local communities, but they don’t have education programmes as well structured as the programmes prepared at third age universities.

Legal framework for adult education is still in change. The Adult education act has been in preparation for three years and this year it should be passed. This legal framework will be mostly focused on formal adult education, while non-formal education and liberal art education have more open space for autonomy and providing programmes which are not accredited by public authorities. In the next few months, new curricula for improvement of basic literacy, numeracy and ICT skills of adults (as embedded part of VET trainings) will be finished. In the working process is also development of new curricula for adult basic education which should be renewed and more flexible. Most of these processes in adult education are postponed because for the Ministry adult education is not a priority as school education.

The most important tools for changes in adult education are EU funds (mostly European social fund), and without this support it will be very difficult to implement our ideas about adult civic education, learning about European identities and values. Most people from disadvantaged groups participate in adult education by participating in ESF projects. Erasmus+ is also such type of support. Another tool are public campaigns. “Lifelong learning week” is an opportunity for dissemination and presentation of ideas about adult education. 

In this institutional framework adult education institutions try to improve their activities on the educational market, ensure organisational and financial sustainability and stability and respond to the needs and demands of adult citizens. (Author: Tihomir Ziljak)

Let us first tell what Slovenian U3A is not: it is not geared towards caritative work, leisure time education, exercising body, self-help activities, etc.
Over the last 35 years, the exceptional situation of Slovenian older adult education has been due to the fact that its educators and volunteers have been enrolled in specialized education;  next, to the fact that from the very beginning Slovenian Third Age University network has been imagined and maintained as a research and highly innovative and professional undertaking established back in 1984 by the efforts of two university teachers specialized in adult education as well as U3A staff’s efforts. The two university teachers brought to this university their professional knowledge and professional connections while, together with their colleagues, they started:

(1) encouraging participation of older people and young students of andragogy as well as outstanding professionals;
(2) doing public campaigning all over former Yugoslavia and in neighbouring countries;
(3) developing specialized education for adult educators in the field;
(4) creating learning and professional volunteering opportunities for older learners and building self-help structures supporting older people’s exchange and construction of knowledge;
(5) developing advocacy of older people and their need to have access to education;
(6) caring for continuous, though mostly small-scale research studies in the field;
(7) cultivating long lasting international co-operation;
(8) setting up new organisations and supporting self-help learning structures based on the same mission:
– bettering older people’s life, interconnecting their lives with the lives of others (inclusion),
– encouraging older people’s stepping out in the public sphere (inclusion),
– supporting older people’s contributing to social, economic, innovation development.

What is particular about Slovenian Third Age Network are 52 universities spread out even to very small rural localities’, where they have been strongly involved in local development by their members’ learning, creating, spreading education and culture as well as art, all as a basis for dignity, decent life, gaining knowledge and skills.

By this day, all universities have developed socially engaged education of older people and socially engaged art of older people as a result of research and democratic learning in small study groups, or study circles pursuing both cognitive and action goals for the benefit of their localities. It can be said that Slovenian older learners have become some kind of activists, politicians, sociologists in dialogue with other generations through intergenerational learning, civil dialogues, etc.

Slovenian providers of older adult education are today many, due to the fact that Slovenian U3A has been caring for the interconnectivity of different organisations be they civil, private or public. So older adult education is today provided by:

Anton Trstenjak’s institute (research and caritative orientation); Open universities; Museums; Hospitals; Art associations; Retired professionals’ associations; Clubs of pensioners; Daily centres for older people’s activities; Libraries; Centres of Social Work; Faculties.

Slovenian Third Age university also supports education of other social groups at the edge of society depending on the research areas/projects of its founders and collaborators: education of adult educators in the field of the migrant’s inclusion (‘RefugeesIn’, cinema for social inclusion of refugees), children and adults with dyslexia (FORWARD, FORWARD TRAINER), volunteering in culture (Older people as cultural mediators in public institutions), education of low educated and low skilled workers (LearnersMot), pre-retirement education, etc. Most of these areas were introduced as a result of the work started in European projects.

Non-formal older adult education is mostly not for free. Small fees are asked for in most cases. (Author: Dusana Findeisen)

There are a lot of NGOs in Romania, involved in the adult education, as it can be seen on the list of Erasmus+ Romanian National Agency. Very important is the dissemination of the results of their work.

In the field of adult education, the NGOs are financed usually by European and international projects.

The Association “The Writers` League” Timisoara Banat Branch (LSFTB), founded in May 2010 in Timisoara, Romania, has taken part in European projects since 2012 and participated at 7 international projects. LSFTB involved a very large number of people, especially seniors, in these projects.

LSFTB is formed of creators in the field of literature, most of them professors and teachers, retired or in function. LSFTB encourages lifelong education projects by organizing social and cultural events focused on developing art skills, with a strong intergenerational focus. The Writers` League Timisoara promotes conversation-based educational activities and, since 2012 LSFTB has been having an educational partnership with the Theoretical High School “Vlad Tepes“, named “Literature-bridge amongst generations“, which develops the pleasure to enjoy book launches, opens the gates of knowledge and friendship amongst pupils, teachers, poets, the stimulation of interest and curiosity on the world of books, using the intergenerational transmission  of knowledge and values.

Romania is on the last place in European Union at the adult participation rate in lifelong learning programs, according to data published by European Statistical Office (Eurostat) in May 2019. (Author: Ana Zlibut)

Bulgaria developed and adopted its National Strategy for Active Aging covering the 2012-2030 period, which includes a complex cross-sector approach to active and productive adult living in good health. It encompasses the adaptation of social systems to demographic change and the aging of the population, the labor market, pension system, social assistance and care, healthcare, education, culture and others.

Bulgaria is implementing reforms at all levels of education as it is a political priority. The emphasis is on reducing early school dropout rates, increasing teacher wages, introducing dual learning, enhancing digital skills and strengthening inclusive education.

The main groups of formal and non-formal education providers in Bulgaria are public educational institutions such as general education schools, vocational schools, universities, public VET centres and employment centres as well as private vocational training centres, language and computer literacy schools, employers’ organizations, trade unions, non-governmental organizations and enterprises with their own training centres.

Licensed Vocational Training Centres (VTC)
They can be created by the state, local authorities or private providers and are licensed by the National Agency for Vocational Education and Training (NAVET) to organize courses for specific professions listed in the license, rather being addressed to adults, than to children and young people. VTCs are authorized to issue Vocational Training Certificates at Level 1 to 3 in the same way as Vocational Schools and Colleges in the formal system.

Employers’ organizations
Workplace training plans are much more widespread in the public sector and large companies than in private businesses and micro-enterprises. Workplace training is much more common in larger businesses.

Professional alliances
Professional unions have a new role as independent representative organizations. The rapid changes in society and the legislation to which trade union members need to adapt require continuing vocational education and training, as well as training in democracy to build active citizenship in Bulgarian society. Courses are open to participants outside the ranks of the trade unions.

Craft Chambers
The apprenticeship training of apprentices is regulated by the Crafts Act and by several regulations of the Bulgarian Chamber of Crafts, which are drawn up in consultation with the National Agency for Vocational Education and Training (NAVET).

Cultural Centres (Cultural Libraries, “Chitalishte”)
The Bulgarian Cultural Centres are self-governing cultural and educational institutions with a separate legal status, whose tradition dates back to the 19th century. Their main activity has been extended over the years and led to the creation of many aspects of contemporary cultural life in Bulgaria. Today, cultural centres have the task of opening new paths of action. The most active chitalishte are now again independent adult education institutions, united in several national networks. They are governed by the Chitalishte Act.

The training of unemployed persons is carried out through different schemes by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy: the development scheme is aimed at training for acquiring or increasing the professional qualification of unemployed persons registered with the labour offices for the purpose of being hired. Representatives of the respective target group receive vouchers to cover the costs of the training.

Statistics
Adults participating in formal education and training or informal learning in 2016-2018 include 24,5% men and 52,5% women.
By age
Learners in the 25 – 34 age group are 29.6%.
Learners in the 35 – 54 age group are 27.0%.
Learners in the 55 – 64 age group are 14.7%.
The percentage of trained  people in the cities is 28,1%, whereas the percentage of trained people from villages are 14,1 %.
Persons who have participated in an independent form of training amount to 49,1 % men and 24,7% women. (Author: Emiliya Velikova)