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Workshop D
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Workshop A |
Workshop B |
Workshop C |
Workshop D
Workshop D - Session 2
My presentation will focus on 2 levels: the national level and the European level. In the national level I shall present the policy framework that promotes lifelong learning in Greece in a direct or indirect way, and in the second part of my presentation I will focus more on our experience from the involvement in pilot projects, and our experience from the European Year for Lifelong Learning. Greece does not have a long tradition in adult learning. However, during the last decade there have been rapid developments of vocational training at both levels - initial and continuing - largely due to the impact of the structural policies of the EU, especially due to the European Social Fund support. Nevertheless the development of human resources in the country is still far behind the actual needs. Currently in Greece over one-tenth of the population aged 25 to 64 holds a tertiary education degree, about one-quarter are secondary school graduates and around half are primary school graduates. Illiteracy is rather high at 47.7% of the population aged 16 and over, and women represent 52% of this group. Strategic Component During the European Year for Lifelong Learning, a dialogue on lifelong learning was launched among potential key partners at the national level, in order to highlight the importance of the concept as a strategic component for any policy of development. Great interest was shown by the university community, the social partners and decision makers, and, while Ministers declared a positive attitude, they did not commit themselves to a concrete multi-annual action plan in order to help secure a comprehensive policy framework that promotes lifelong learning. Separate institutional arrangements for continued education and training have been introduced and major changes in the institutional framework are underway in accordance with the Educational Reform and the National Action Programme for Employment. So the Government initiatives related directly or indirectly to the issue of lifelong learning are as follows: First of all an Open University was launched and is scheduled to start operation during the academic year 98/99. This University will provide open education for a range of students of all ages at a low cost, and will offer an opportunity to those who for any reason were unable to achieve college or university education. It will also provide distance learning and teaching with, as a target population, employees whose work commitments prevent physical attendance at a university or a course, residents of remote regions and islands (especially relevant in Greece), housewives, disabled persons and so on. A second initiative is what we call extended university programmes: they are not extramural studies because they can lead to qualifications. These new programmes are designed to respond to the demands of the Greek economy and society, and are open for enrolment to students of all ages who wish to complement their skills and knowledge by attending one or more courses. In order to increase flexibility a credit system will be introduced. The third initiative is the Second Chance Schools which are a pilot project as proposed in the European Commission's White Paper on Teaching and Learning. They aim to give young people who have been excluded from the classical school system a new opportunity by means of appropriate educational methods, using in particular the new multi-media technologies. Vocational Training The fourth initiative is the development of a network of four secondary vocational training institutes. These institutes may be attended by youths and adults who have completed any education level and want to upgrade their skills and qualifications. There are no tuition fees and students successfully completing their studies can seek immediate employment. Another initiative, which is an interaction between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture, is the initiative aimed at developing the cultural dimension of education throughout the education system from the age of 6 onwards, mainly in the fields of music, dance, drama and classic arts. This project, although it is targeted at elementary level education, has through its concept, its content and methodology and application incorporated many elements which are characteristic of adult education. The approach is holistic and experiential; the methodology and the method of work introduce a pupil to the techniques of investigation. In the field of labour and employment, Greece, being an Objective 1 country for the European Social Fund, has a big multi-annual programme for the development of human resources which covers the period from '94 to '99. This big programme forms part of the second community support framework, and is supported by the European Funds. The interventions of these programmes cover the fields of general initial education, initial and continued training, and combating exclusion from the labour market. In the same field of labour employment, another policy action programme is the National Action Plan for Employment which was adopted by the Greek Government and presented to the European Commission last April jointly with the plans of all Member States. Some of the measures are legislative measures related to changes in the organisation of the labour market and new forms of work - the rationalisation of the training system and the development of a national graded system of vocational competence and skills and their accreditation; the improvement of accessibility to training throughout people's working lives, through paid or unpaid educational leave; tax benefits, and so on. Culture In the field of culture, some policies interact with those of the Ministry of Education, and so they have side-effects on lifelong learning. For example, the Libraries Development Project, or the development of educational cultural networks involving schools and cultural institutions, or the development of museum and cultural heritage education. The most outstanding in this field is the national policy on books and reading, which aims at highlighting the multiple roles of books as a means of promoting ideas and debate and as a cultural entity in themselves. At the European level the institution that I represent which is under the Ministry of Education has participated in several pilot projects under SOCRATES and LEONARDO, and under the Employment Initiatives. The implementation of European pilot projects has undoubtedly helped all the partners to develop co-operation and engage in transnational networking to exchange experience and information, and thereby improved our work, discovered the power of collective co-operative work at the transnational level, opened up new fields of co-operation in the perspective of joint venture actions and improved our capacity for negotiation, problem solving and advocacy. The development of transnational activities under the European pilots has led us to a better understanding of political, economic, social and historical aspects of Europe. Nevertheless the first generation of pilot projects has suffered from a range of problems associated with early growth and development, such as administrative problems at all levels, bureaucracy and shortened deadlines, the demands of technical reports which say little about the substance of the projects, the necessity of annual applications for renewal when projects have originally been designed for 3 years and so on. Other difficulties have included financial and accounting problems, such as the low level of European funding; national financial restrictions; incompatibility and often inflexibility of bookkeeping systems; technical problems associated with new technology, for example incompatible software; cultural problems; competition, rivalry, mistrust - the whole range of human emotions. Learning conditions for adults in Greece have improved considerably, but still there is no comprehensive learning culture. That is why the key issues for us are the following: a strategic comprehensive policy framework for lifelong learning; legislative and administrative measures in favour of lifelong learning; consensus among the social partners in order to secure continuity in the goals and complementarity; modernisation; better utilisation and quality control of the provision; broad dissemination of good practice at European level; and the promotion of the development of a training culture for all as a minimum learning goal. Q.: Could you say a bit more about the item on culture and books and how it works? Magda Trantallidi: The Ministry of Culture created in '84 an organisation, the National Centre for Books, which is under the Ministry of Culture, but is independent. The main aim of this organisation is to rationalise the national policy, and all the policies around books, not only the promotion of reading, but also all the problems around publishers and the commercial side of it also.
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