On 9 May, the MESS organised a professional consultation entitled Primary School for Adults – Basic Premises for Lifelong Learning for Each and Every One (Programme – in Slovenian). It was attended by 60 participants – directors, organisers, teachers, policy-makers and theoreticians dealing with the issues of general education and AE. The professional event was devoted to the consideration of and discussion on the proposal for a new design of the Primary School for Adults programme which we designed in the programme redesign group.
The programme aimed at the acquisition of the basic skills for adults plays an extremely important role in the process of the facilitation of the literacy skills of the most vulnerable groups of the population. It is intended for those adults who have fulfilled the basic education requirement, but failed to finish primary school. The evaluation of the Primary School for Adults programme, which was carried out in 2012, and other analyses, highlighted the fact that the existing programme is not sufficiently adapted to the needs of the adult population, that it considers the characteristics of certain vulnerable groups insufficiently, and that it is less effective in achieving certain objectives. Information on the successful completion of the Primary School for Adults programme points to a tendency of falling success rates in the achievement of objectives.
The fundamental challenge is to provide adults without a primary school education with access to a high-quality education programme that will enable them to acquire essential competences and basic knowledge to be able to meet the challenges of the times. The proposed design takes its cues from the needs of an adult person and supports the realisation of their career plan.
The plenary portion of the consultation presented the status of the Primary School for Adults programme and the Background for its redesign and updating. The presentation of the design was followed by work in five groups. Both in the discussion and the conclusion portions of the consultation; different issues arose, dilemmas and polemics appeared, and the opinions presented differed … We aimed to justify the fact that changes were needed. We are searching for a way that would be sufficiently effective, holistic and inclusive, realistic and supported.
Jasmina Mirčeva, MSc (jasmina.mirceva@acs.si), SIAE
