Policies focusing on skills, employment, and adult learning have been introduced to foster social inclusion, and labour market integrity in light of the challenges Europe faces today. Making learning more accessible to vulnerable groups and strengthening their position in the labour market are both key to a resilient Europe in the future and it is also of key importance in the light of the European Year of Skills. The European Commission is set out “to bring down barriers to learning and improve access to quality education” – as Commission President Ursula von der Leyen states. Adults with basic skills challenges are especially at risk not only in terms of participation in training programmes, but also in finding their place in the labour market.

This podcast takes a closer look at relevant EU (and non-EU) initiatives addressing social inclusion, employment, and skills to see how they can empower adults with low-, (or no) qualification. First, the latest updates on the EU approach to micro-credentials are discussed. Then, we focus on the Swiss implementation experiences on the education voucher system. Learning about how the Swiss policy addresses adult basic skills development can serve with an example for European Member States on how they can steer their efforts in implementing the individual learning accounts for the benefit of this vulnerable target group.

Contributing experts:

• William O´Keeffe - DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission
• Sofie Gollob - Swiss Federation for Adult Learning (SVEB)

The moderator of the podcast is Tamás Harangozó on behalf of the European Basic Skills Network.

Key resources:

• Council Recommendation on a EU approach to micro-credentials
• Council Recommendation on individual learning accounts
• CEDEFOP’s Skills-OVATE project
• The European Learning Model
• The Swiss Federation for Adult Learning
• Presentation on the Swiss education voucher system

Read the full transcript of the podcast here

Photo by Nothing Ahead on Pexels.