Entitlements and obligations for adult learning and education.

In advancing the right to education throughout life, entitlements in adulthood need to be addressed. Different learning pathways or modalities, that encompass formal, non-formal and informal learning are an essential facet of lifelong learning entitlements. It is important that diverse modalities are recognized, validated and accredited (RVA). This process is already governed by the RALE. ‘Member States should promote […] flexible and seamless learning pathways between formal and non-formal education and training’ (article 27) and […] learning outcomes from participation in non-formal and informal adult learning and education should be recognized, validated and accredited as having equivalent values to those granted by formal education (e.g. in accordance with National Qualification Frameworks) to allow for continuing education and access to the labour market, without facing discrimination barriers (article 28 (g)). Different countries have implemented different types of RVA in legislation, such as rights-based systems in France, Canada and Norway, many countries have national qualifications frameworks (NQFs)9 and others have used a targeted approach for groups that did not complete a cycle of basic education or other vulnerable groups (UNESCO-UIL, 2018). These various learning pathways should include opportunities to learn the professional skills that are needed to join or retrain for rapidly changing workforces, ensuring a coherence between the skills that employers are looking for and the training that is on offer. Care must be taken that young people and adults are able to learn ‘green skills’, to contribute to the shift to a low carbon economy and more economically sustainable modes of production and consumption. The unlimited number of settings of lifelong learning can make it difficult to identify the measures that States are able to take to ensure a right to learning in spaces where they are not directly providing for education, such as within the home or the community. In this regard, it is important to recognize the value of ensuring equitable participation in knowledge commons, both on and offline. One space that might require further regulation is the digital sphere. States could also consider the multi-use of spaces that can be reimagined for lifelong learning activities

States can also encourage learner-friendly workplaces and the expanded use of public spaces that already host learning opportunities such as libraries, museums and community centres (UNESCO-UIL, 2020). Along the same vein the RALE also calls on States to develop measures to provide decent infrastructure for adult learning and education, including safe learning spaces (article 28 (b)). The diverse modalities and settings of lifelong learning will require changes in governance structures. The Ministry of Education can be transformed into a ministry with a lifelong learning mandate (UNESCO-UIL, 2020). Article 12 of the RALE calls on Member States to strengthen and create inter-ministerial forums to collaborate across sectors and provide suitable structures and mechanisms for the development of adult learning and education policies. Financing, though the primary responsibility of the State, will engage a co-responsibility with public authorities, enterprises and social partners (Singh, 2016). The consultative process revealed the need to build on lessons learnt from the area of health where initiatives have encouraged policy-makers to include ‘health in all policies’, for example in sectors such as agriculture, energy or transport. Similarly, education experts or stakeholders could work with all sectors to find ways to promote education from a ‘lifewide’ perspective. Particularly vulnerable groups such as migrants, refugees, older people, indigenous communities, prisoners, rural populations, and persons with disabilities may require properly accreditedalternative non-formal and informal learning modalities to succeed. The Fifth Global Report on AdultLearning and Education found that those that needed adult learning and education the most were still the most deprived of access to learning opportunities (UNESCO-UIL, 2022). Second-chance programmes to make up for lack of initial schooling are imperative to respond to ongoing cycles of disadvantage. Participation and inclusion of vulnerable groups must go hand-in-hand with ‘emancipatory visions of adult education’ which includes an appreciation for informal learning across the lifespan (UNESCO’s International Commission on the Futures of Education, 2021). Targeted strategies can be designed to address the cognitive and emotional diversity of learners of all agegroups, backgrounds and abilities (UNESCO-UIL, 2020)