ADULT EDUCATION

Adult education makes an integral part of lifelong learning in many countries. It encompases a full scope of formal, non-formal and informal education and learning. Adult education can include a diversity of subjects – from general literacy and key life skills, through the content of vocational education, to family, civic or environmental education – and many other areas depending on each country's specific needs.

For the mentioned reasons, adult education, as an integral part of lifelong learning, is considered the best response to economic, social, cultural, environmental and other challenges – especially in developing countries. As a result and in response to the Lisbon Strategy, many EU countries adopted a comprehensive lifelong learning strategy.

Adult education is instrument of social development because it contributes to socio-economic development, economic growth, democracy development, civil society, environmental awareness and quality of life in general. Additionally, it is also an instrument of personal development as it serves as a means for individuals to take on professional and civic roles. Adults who are willing to learn and develop themselves and their abilities are more active and have healthier possibilities and chances for employment. Likewise, they become more competitive in the labor market.

The dynamics of trends and conditions on the labor market measured through basic indicators and current trends and structural relations show the following key characteristics of the labor market in BiH:

• high long-term unemployment rate,
• high youth unemployment rate,
• mismatch of supply, demand, and employment,
• significant increase in the number of unemployed university graduates,
• regional differences in unemployment rates
• a considerable number of hard-to-employ people

Significant disparities in the labor market show a structural mismatch between supply and demand in two primary forms:

1. Workforce with specific qualifications currently in short supply in the labor market is wanted.
2. People with qualifications that are not in demand are available.

A contributory cause for the mentioned situation lies in the fact that employers, next to the basic qualifications acquired through mainstream education, increasingly call for other skills and competencies, as well as practical knowledge and skills necessary to perform the duty and tasks of their profession independently.

Adult education, i.e., retraining (change of current occupation/qualifications) and additional training (acquisition of additional qualifications) can contribute to higher employment of persons who cannot find jobs in their profession due to its surplus or because they lack skills required in the labor market. Hence, adult education is frequently described as a “second chance” available to adults to reaffirm personal knowledge and skills or to acquire new knowledge to become more competitive in the labor market.

Education offers not only knowledge from various fields and sciences to us but also the opportunity to gain experience in our area of interest and grow as an individual through it.  Moreover, education equips us with the skills necessary to perform different jobs, explore the world and make it a better place to live!