German Adult Education Conference
Berlin, 4-5 May 2006

Mister President of the federal Republic,
Madam President,
Madam Bundesministerin,
Your Excellencies,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am delighted to be with you and to have the opportunity to contribute to the
12th German Adult Education Conference.

The challenges
Today’s Europe is confronted with major challenges. We have the effects of
globalisation, with the emergence of newly industrialised and highly
competitive countries. We have our demographic trends, with an ageing
population and an increasing need of immigrant labour. Finally, the nature of
our labour markets is changing, partly because of fast technological
developments.
This last challenge points to the emergence of a knowledge–based economy
and society, which makes training and education more important than ever
before. Europeans need not only to update their skills, but also to acquire new
ones. They need to do that to live and prosper in our modern society, as well as
for personal fulfilment.

Where do we stand now in this respect? The picture is not reassuring; let me
give you some figures. At present, as many as 75 million Europeans—around
30% of the workforce—are low–skilled. In contrast, estimates show that by
2010 only 15 % of jobs will be for those with no more than basic schooling.
If Europe is to guarantee the sustainability of its social model, we must put
greater efforts into improving education and training systems. If we are serious
about making lifelong learning a reality, we must invest more in our human
resources.

The political will seems to be there: the lifelong learning programme, the
benchmarks and the strategies adopted at the European level in 2006 show that
a culture of lifelong learning is taking shape. The national leaders of the Union,
in their latest European Council, confirmed that “education and training are
critical factors to develop the EU’s long–term potential for competitiveness as
well as for social cohesion”.

They also added that “Investments in education and training produce high
returns which substantially outweigh the costs”.
These are important statements, and I hope that these words will turn into facts,
because—as you know well—education and training policies are largely
national matters.
I would like to stress the recognition that investing in education is a smart
investment decision. It brings two kinds of returns:

• First, economic returns, because a well educated and trained workforce
  boosts Europe’s potential for excellence, innovation and competitiveness.
• Second, it brings social returns, because it creates the conditions for equal
  opportunities and social participation.

What needs to be done: promoting of learning including
adult learning

Ladies and Gentlemen:
I have just given you rather gloomy figures, but there is good news as well.
National and European action has begun to make a difference.

Over the last five years, Member States, together with the Commission and the
Social Partners, have worked hard to reform their education and training
systems.

They have agreed European benchmarks to measure progress and have
engaged in a structured process of learning from experience and best practice
across Europe.

Since 2000, Europe has made substantial progress; however, a lot more
remains to be done. Let me show you how selected data compare against the
benchmarks:

You can see that progress has not been good especially in adult learning. Adult
participation in formal and non–formal learning is alarmingly low; around 10%
of the active population aged 25–64 takes part in it.

Clearly there’s still a long way to go if we want to reach the EU benchmark of
12.5% (itself pretty low…) by 2010.

Only six EU countries are above this figure now. The rate for Germany is 6%,
and many countries have participation rates at 5% or below.
Access to learning remains difficult for less–well educated adults, older people,
and those working in SMEs.

Barriers stem mostly from lack of financing, time and motivation. Low
participation also results from poor quality provision, and the lack of well
designed and flexible courses that meet the needs of adults.

Adult learning must climb the political agenda in all Member States. I would
like to call for concrete actions on the following key issues:

• increasing access and participation;
• raising the quality and outcomes of adult learning; and
  
• improving the coherence of policies and systems.

Firstly, increasing access and participation: existing obstacles to participation
should be removed. In fact, adults need to be motivated and supported to
remain in or resume learning.

For instance, this means improving the economic, social and personal returns
through better recognition of prior learning and of learning outcomes.
Learning should also be brought closer to the learner. What I have in mind are
local open–learning centres and better distance–learning systems.

Then, there is funding, which is always important. Public funds will always be
needed to guarantee a sustainable infrastructure for formal and non–formal
adult learning, and to provide for those who are most at risk of exclusion.

The second point is about quality and the outcomes of adult learning. Raising
the quality and outcomes is an objective in its own right and also an important
factor to raise motivation and participation.

A good quality assurance system will be essential; but teachers remain the
number one factor.

We should focus on teachers: improving their initial education, promoting their
professional development, and raising their status in society. Teachers should
know how important they are for us.

Finally, more work should be done on the improvement of learning systems
and policies. As you know well, adult learning is a complex world. It may be
described as a ‘rich mosaic’ or as a ‘confusing hodgepodge’.

One needs to recognise the complexity of adult learning to address the different
needs.

Because policy–making is fragmented between many different actors, I believe
that greater coherence and coordination is required. But this should not come at
the cost of ignoring specific and local needs.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

These are the main issues I would like to bring to the attention of policy
makers and stakeholders.
To do that, the European Commission is now preparing a Communication on
adult learning which will appear in the second half of the year.
I hope it will promote a wide debate across Europe and that this will in turn
help to produce concrete steps forward.
However, the Commission has also the task to help things move from policy to
implementation.
We will continue to fund initiatives launched by adult–learning organisations
out in the field.
These funds will principally be distributed through Grundtvig; the sectoral
programme part of the new Integrated Lifelong Learning Programme, for
which Mrs Doris Pack, who is here with us today, is “rapporteur” in the
European Parliament.

Conclusions
Meine Damen und Herren,
Zusammenfassend möchte ich sagen, dass Aus- und Weiterbildung eine
intelligente Investition in die Zukunft ist. Es ist eine Investition in die Zukunft
unserer Bürger und in die Zukunft unserer Wirtschaft und Gesellschaften.
Wir sind uns alle einig, dass es nun an der Zeit ist, von Worten zu Taten zu
schreiten, und zwar auf allen Ebenen: auf europäischer, nationaler, regionaler
und lokaler Ebene.
Unser wichtigster gemeinsamer Wert ist die Würde des Menschen. Daher ist
„Sein“ immer mehr als „Haben“. In der Kultur des Lebenslangen Lernens ist
allerdings „Wissen“ mehr als „Haben“.

12 Sterne sind auf der Europäischen Flagge, 12 ist die Zahl der
Vollkommenheit. Ich wünsche Ihnen allen, dass diese zwölfte Konferenz einen
bedeutsamen Schritt und Fortschritt zur Strategie, des Systems und der Kultur
des Lebenslangen Lernens in Deutschland, Europa und in die Welt ist.
Vielen Dank.