Life-long learning has remained unnoticed

Recently finished teacher protests against low salaries and the discussions about the closure or enclosure of country schools, as well as talks about further development of higher education system in Latvia have cast a shadow on such an important education type as life-long learning. In contradiction to formal education (school, industrial school and university), life-long learning or informal education is a process which continues all life of a person, by adapting to changeable needs acquiring knowledge, skills and experience, in order to increase or change qualification of a person according to the demands of labor market, interests and needs. Life-long learning allows obtaining knowledge independently from the age, gender, and previous education, place of residence, level of income, ethnic belonging and functional disorders.

Different courses, seminars, education, competence and life-long learning centers, which have been created separately or under the wing of industrial school, college and university, are available for us. However the problem is that all previously mentioned structures acting in the field of life-long learning do not operate in one, joint system, each lives its own life, often inefficiently duplicating each other. As well as, often even professionals working in the field of life-long learning, understand and use the term “life-long learning” very differently, with it comprehending professional further education, adult education, education of interests and others. If even those who work in the field of life-long learning do not have an understanding, than how an ordinary person can orientate in the wide choice of offers? How he can choose the most appropriate offer for himself? Furthermore, there is no joint center or institution in Latvia, which coordinates and in which all with life-long learning connected offers and topicalities can be accessible.

Latvian association of higher education institutions for Life-long Learning (LAKMA) is convinced that the life-long learning system in Latvia should be put in order and divided in branches so that for themselves and for clients it would be clear what each performs. That is, what high schools, industrial schools, universities and other education centers do, and what type, level of education and competences in each of them can be acquired.

Universities and colleges mostly are associated with formal education, but recently their role hve been more and more estimated also in informal education. With what universities are attractive in the informal education sector? It is important for a client that a good infrastructure, library, data basis, e-environment, qualitatively created education courses and professional teachers are provided. For a person, who thinks about acquiring formal education, it would be very important to start life-long learning exactly in university, where there exists a possibility to slowly become familiar with the rhythm of university and study process, to get used with the university lecturer demands as well as to understand what exactly is studying.

Currently the work is on that universities, who are collaborated in LAKMA, could issue certificates about the acquirement of courses acknowledged between them. In order life-long learning courses could be acknowledged, credit points should be necessary to assigned. This would allow equate mastered knowledge to formal education. This will enable clients to create a consecutive education by using different services from universities, which could result even with acquisition of diploma of higher education. That is why another aim of the association is logical – to create criteria for the quality of teaching, content of courses, learning materials and the qualification of teachers.

LAKMA (www.lakma.lv) is an association in which 10 universities of Latvia have collaborated on the principle of voluntary participation – University of Latvia, University of Liepaja, University of Daugavpils, Riga Technical University, Latvian Academy of Sport Education, University of Ventspils, Latvia University of Agriculture, Riga Stradins University, Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences and Riga Teacher Training and Educational Management Academy. Quite recently also the University of Rezekne has joined the group!

Association since now has successfully managed to perform with co-financing of Nordplus Adult approved project University and college role fortification in adult education. The aim of the association is to support education in Latvia, by promoting life-long learning field development in universities and colleges.