EPALE - Platformă electronică pentru învățarea adulților în Europa

Skre By journalist Dorthe Kirkgaard Nielsen - Link to LinkedIn profile - for EPALE Denmark  

Education is a key factor in addressing vulnerability, inequality, social exclusion and poverty. Therefore, adult learning is a vital component in promoting equality, social inclusion and in empowering individuals to fulfill their potential in both their careers and in society more generally. 

Education and basic skills have an impact on a wide range of aspects of life. From job opportunities and earnings, health, life expectancy, social interactions to family dynamics and criminal behaviour. 

Rasmus Landersø, Research Professor at the ROCKWOOL Foundation's Research Unit, explains, “Research shows that human capital, particularly education, is essential when examining the connection between education and the reduction of vulnerability and poverty”. 

“The acquisition of various skills—such as education, training, persistence, and diligence—offers the greatest opportunities for pursuing work and further education, and it impacts aspects like health, life expectancy and family circumstances”. He adds, “Therefore, education is vital not only for the individual but also on a broader societal perspective”.  

Rasmus Landersø, Research Professor at the ROCKWOOL Foundation's Research Unir

Rasmus Landersø has led numerous research projects centred on education and families, including investigations into inequality and social inheritance. The statistics clearly illustrate that parental education significantly influences social inheritance throughout life. 

“Inequality in education persists through life, from cradle to grave, running as an invisible thread throughout one's life. "Whether we examine employment, finances, health, crime or family life, it is evident that education plays a significant role in all of these areas, with the most profound impact occurring at the lower end of the spectrum," emphasises Rasmus Landersø. .

Pathways to addressing inequality in education

Rasmus Landersø argues that if the only consequence of inadequate education were income inequality, society could address it by redistributing wealth through taxes and income transfers. 

The truth is that it is much more complex than this. The absence of education, training and basic skills creates significant disparities in areas such as health and crime, leading to notable consequences for individuals and communities alike. It affects various essential components of the welfare system, creating a ripple effect from parents through to their children. So what exactly can be done?

For children and young people, the goal is to address the negative social legacy as early as possible. According to Rasmus Landersø, continuous development and upskilling are essential for adults in unskilled or skilled jobs as they navigate the challenges posed by advancing technology.

Rasmus Landersø observes that for adults with minimal or no education, it is important to acknowledge the exceptional difficulty of changing their established behavior.

 “With adult education, it is vital to consider the following when setting objectives and methods: It needs be adapted to an adult’s life, which may involve responsibilities like caring for children, and recognise that learning conditions differ greatly at ages 23, 33 or 53”. 

Rasmus Landersø says, “Many individuals come here with a sense of failure from their previous education, so it's important that we don't just offer the same type of courses again and risk repeating that failure”.  

Local education services in Brøndby Strand

Coercion is ineffective in this context; instead, success is achieved by encouraging voluntary participation and tailoring the approach to suit each specific target group. 

“For adult education to effectively address poverty, inequality and related issues, it is crucial to tailor it to individual needs. “Although it must be practical, specific adaptations can be crucial to its success,” explains Rasmus Landersø. 

Lack of mobility can also pose challenges when engaging with at-risk individuals who have little or no education. It can simply be a question of being able to get to the course.

The issue of mobility is a key focus for the education project that Vestegnen HF & VUC has been running since 2020 in partnership with the Brøndby Strand Project Social Housing Master Plan. 

The primary goal of this close partnership is to improve access to employment and community resources for vulnerable and marginalised groups. To achieve this, students attend classes at the former Klydebo daycare centre, located in the heart of their local neighbourhood, where staff from the Social Housing Master Plan are also based. 

“Our collaboration started in 2019 when the Social Housing Master Plan approached us regarding residents who were ready for education but lacked mobility,” Anders Borregaard Pedersen, a lecturer in social sciences and mathematics at Vestegnen HF & VUC and coordinator of the educational programme in Klydebo, Brøndby Strand, explains, “We began with 12 students and offered a six-month programme that included Danish, mathematics and social studies”.

Training as well as education 

Since 2020, the programme has become a permanent fixture, providing education in the local area through both Preparatory Adult Education (FVU) and General Adult Education (AVU).  The BASIC package includes Danish, mathematics, English, history and introductory lessons, preparing students to advance to 9th grade within six months. 

Additionally, students have the option to enroll in a one-year HG course, equivalent to 9th grade of secondary school. This course includes extra teaching in Danish and mathematics, along with social studies. 

“Initially, we expected that students would complete the entire course in six months, but no one was prepared or able to take the exam because at that stage we didn’t fully understand our target audience. We now know that it will take a year and a half,” Anders Borregaard Pedersen explains.   

Anders Borregaard Pedersen, a lecturer in social science and mathematics at Vestegnen HF & VUC and coordinator of the educational programme in Klydebo in Brøndby Strand 

In addition to the core subjects, the programme aims to improve students' mobility and provide training to prepare them for the Danish labour market and integration into society.

“We assist with job applications and drafting CVs, we organise one-week internships as well as arranging visits to various educational institutions. We also take students on field trips to places like the town hall and the National Museum. We also run an environmental project focused on waste sorting and make visits to Vestforeningen,” says Anders Borregaard Pedersen. 

Engaging with the local community 

The courses are aimed at bilingual individuals over the age of 25. Most of the students are women who have stayed at home to care for their children. Some have lived in isolation, outside the communal system, supported by their husbands. Many have been reunited with their families; some may have extensive education from their home countries, but the main issue for most is their lack of Danish language skills, which prevents them from supporting their children, finding employment or participating fully in Danish society. 

“The goal of the project is for students to progress towards education, employment and obtaining an income, as well as improving their Danish language skills and gaining a better understanding of Danish society. This will enable them to assist their children with homework, attend meetings with the municipality, doctors and other institutions. At the same time, the project combats isolation and loneliness by helping students build a local network,” explains Nadja Munck von Platen, education and activity officer in the Brøndby Strand Project. 

The local open education programme also provides students with access to a local community that includes communal meals, a shared garden and numerous other resources which are available through the Brøndby Strand Project, such as a playroom, nature excursions and education and career guidance. 

A holistic approach promotes effective implementation

Nadja Munck von Platen is also responsible for entry into the programme and for the initial assessment of participants to determine whether they are ready to attend.

Nadja Munck von Platen explains, “Being in this shared space has a significant impact and enhances the training process. By using a holistic approach, we are able to offer extensive support, including housing assistance, free space, educational grants (SU), help with residence permits and other needs”. 

This locally based education programme is structured in such a way as to provide students with access to educational grants, which significantly improves the financial situation of their families.

Nadja Munck von Platen, education and activity officer in the Brøndby Strand Project 

The project achieves outstanding results 

The age limit is set at 25 years, but currently, the local teaching service has 50 students aged between 25 and 60, all of whom are women. They all attend school Monday to Friday for four to six hours each day. Additionally, there is a 45-minute lunch break each day during which participants are able to make use of the kitchen, as the social aspect is vital for the project's success. 

Currently, 37 participants have completed the full course of education in Klydebo. With the exception of one on maternity leave, all are now engaged in vocational training, social work or employment.

Both Anders Borregaard Pedersen and Nadja Munck von Platen agree that the project's impressive results can be attributed to the close partnership, the owners' commitment to the facility and the strong sense of community that the women gain through the project. 

Recruitment is driven by word of mouth within the community. 

“Recruitment is generally challenging, so employees from the Social Housing Master Plan also visit neighborhoods and ring doorbells each month. It can be a slow process, but with time, we are gaining more and more participants through word-of-mouth,” says Nadja Munck von Platen. '

Vestegnen HF & VUC is also involved in recruitment but tends to avoid traditional advertising methods. For the Brøndby Strand project, they distribute leaflets and flyers to households two months prior to the start of the programme. They also have four banners displayed in the 24 courtyards of the residential area, rotating them every 14 days in the hope that all residents will get to see them. 

Alongside this, the Social Housing Master Plan promotes the courses on their Facebook page. . 

Crucial to adapt to local conditions

For Tue Sanderhage, Director at Vestegnen HF & VUC, the Brøndby Strand project is about achieving the core mission of the educational institution he leads. When it comes to integrating education into the lives of its citizens, especially in Copenhagen's “Vestegn” District, society must adopt a different approach. 

We know the area's residents well enough to recognise that they are often outside mainstream Danish society for extended periods and frequently have limited or no education. Given our unique position, we are dedicated to making a special effort. Many of the students who have attended or are currently attending school in Brøndby Strand would never have been able to do so if we hadn't offered education in their local area,” says Tue Sanderhage. 

Tue Sanderhage, Director at Vestegnen HF & VUC

Following the success in Brøndby Strand, Vestegnen HF & VUC is now extending the same type of educational programme to Taastrupgaard in Høj Taastrup Municipality. Here it is the local job centre who has taken the intitiave in the collaboration. There are also ongoing discussions with the job centre about a comprehensive plan for a local training programme in Vejleåparken in Ishøj.

Other municipalities, such as Korsør and Slagelse, have also been inspired to establish similar partnerships with local education services in vulnerable residential areas. 

Tue Sanderhage points out, “The results of our partnership with the master plan in Brøndby Strand speak for themselves, with 9 out of 10 participating women continuing in education or employment. However, it is not simply a question of replicating the project in a different location”. 

“It’s crucial to begin by understanding local conditions. We need to consult with local stakeholders before setting a timetable, and we must acknowledge that an educational institution alone cannot achieve this. It requires ensuring the safety of participants, remaining flexible, and cultivating a community spirit where the primary supporters of our training programme are the students themselves,” he says. 

He also stresses the importance of running a local education programme as an ongoing operation. It cannot be viewed as a temporary project. 

“Adult learning is a powerful tool for overcoming poverty—not only economic poverty but also in a broader sense. However, to effectively reach this target group, institutions must approach it as an operational task. This means allowing permanent staff to develop the programme over the long term, acknowledging that it does not necessarily need to be self-sustaining or generate profits,” says Tue Sanderhage.