Grundtvig in Malta

This week will mark another step forward in underlining Malta`s active role in the coordination of the European Union educational programmes. Socrates National Agencies from the 31 officially participating countries (including Malta) will be meeting in Malta to hold a technical meeting on the Grundtvig Action with the European Commission representatives. The task of organising this meeting has been entrusted to the Socrates Coordinating Committee of Malta.

Some have suggested that the EU educational programmes are meant for a tiny percentage of higher education or University students, normally the brightest and the most academically deserving and that other educational shareholders were being left by the wayside. This impression is false. The recent visit to Malta of Prof. Rocco Buttiglione, the much esteemed Italian Minister of European Community Policies has helped to counteract this planted misconception.

I share Prof. Buttiglione`s conviction that Europe`s Community policy agenda should focus on learning without frontiers, learning which starts before schooling and ends with life itself. He called on Malta to partner Italy within the EU in this vision and quest.

This is why the Leonardo da Vinci programme looks at vocational education and the links this has with the work environment. The other programme cousin, the Youth Programme focuses on the youth sector, where participants often belong to voluntary and philanthropic organisations.

Last week a Socrates-Comenius Participating Exhibition was organised in one of our secondary state schools, with children interactively involved with partner institutions from Austria, Italy and Portugal - there are 68 Maltese schools participating in this action from the state, private and church institutions.

But even within the "most" educational of the EU programmes, Socrates, there are various actions where NGOs, private industries, SMEs and the sector which provides services to our community, can be front stage actors within the European area of cooperation that Malta as a candidate country formally adheres to. This week we will have another area of educational partnership under our eyes: Socrates-Grundtvig.

The entire Socrates programme has been revamped to take account of the stages in lifelong learning, and now places much more emphasis on adult learning, or of providing a Grundtvig experience. Derived from a famous Danish adult education expert who promoted non-formal learning, Grundtvig is the action within the Socrates programme which is aimed at enhancing the European dimension of adult education and lifelong learning. It supports a wide range of activities designed to promote innovation and the improved availability, accessibility and quality of educational provision for adults, by means of European cooperation.

The Grundtvig action addresses a great variety of educational providers, but the final beneficiaries are adults (you and I) who, at whatever stage of our lives, wish to learn in order to increase our capacity to play a full and active role in society and develop our intercultural awareness; improve our employability by acquiring or updating our general skills; enhance our capacity to access or re-enter formal education schemes.

I also believe that this learning can be accomplished within the framework of formal or non-formal education or by means of autonomous learning. It is my understanding that the concept of lifelong learning goes beyond adopting to the needs of work but moves into the whole concept of learning without frontiers, hence bypassing education which is school-based, campus-based or work-based; it is in fact an essential element in personal development in an ever changing world, a world often referred to as the knowledge society.

The Grundtvig action is open to every organisation working in the field of adult learning within the formal or the non-formal system or providing informal education. The following organisations are eligible to take part in all Grundtvig activities:

Adult education providers belonging to the formal or non-formal system (e.g. primary and secondary schools giving courses for adults for example Parents Associations), the university departments carrying out research and/or curriculum development activities or providing educational opportunities for adult learners; organisations training adults and formal or informal education providers for adults, such as non-profit foundations and associations, trade unions, libraries and museums.

I strongely believe that mixed partnerships involving institutions from both the formal and the non-formal sector should be the primary beneficiaries of local networking in this field.

This Socrates action helps to develop the debate on lifelong learning which is a key to understanding and surviving the globalisation waves which Malta is sailing through at the moment. The strand of the Socrates programme covering general, cultural and social education for adults is designed to help strengthen the European dimension through transnational cooperation, with a view to improving mutual knowledge of European cultures and developing exchanges of experience between organisations and establishments concerned with adult education, so as to improve its quality.

Not reinventing the wheel, building on home good practice acquired by different administrations, and developing strategic alliances with our European partners should be the target of our participation. This principle applies to all actual and potential adult learners, but is crucial to engaging with under-represented or marginalised groups. Participating in learning contributes to social, economic and cultural renewal and engagement in civil society, as well as enabling individuals to progress in further learning and in employment.

Measures to integrate systems by linking different players should promote collaboration to create flexible networks which can respond to participants` needs. I believe that this will have a multiplier effect by using social shareholders` complementary strengths to reach new learners and serve those already involved better; respond to their needs more effectively; create effective learning pathways and bridges.

Grundtvig should provide an incentive to key adult education providers such as the media and the social partners to:

¤ Develop learning materials.

¤ Set up information and guidance services for adult learners.

¤ Organise awareness-raising activities to increase the demand for lifelong learning.

¤ Enable adult educators to update their skills in another European Country.

¤ Involve learners in joint projects with their counterparts in other European countries.

¤ Establish networks both locally and in Europe in order to disseminate products and results to new audiences.

Like all the other actions within the Programme, prospective participants are provided with the needed technical assistance - ably coordinated by the Socrates office; with the aim of providing information, promotion and understanding of Grundtvig.

My government`s belief that Malta can be a real player in this field has been justified and supports our current vision that our citizens in Europe can be movers and shakers within a United Europe. Good results appeared almost immediately, since in the first year of "real" participation the first Malta-coordinated Grundtvig project by the Foundation of Educational Services which my Ministry had set up, was evaluated successfully and received close to Lm70,000 for the work on the empowerment of parents to support the teaching and learning of their children in our schools.

This year`s crop is even more bountiful. Projects submitted, which have focused on tackling the education for adults required to combat repetitive strain injuries, the formation of workers into learners, the educational application of the media in popularising law issues to the general public and the partnership of local councils with environment protection agencies in combating environmental issues, have all passed the first hurdle of the commission`s selection boards.

Fifteen Maltese coordinated projects and six partnerships had applied by the November 1 deadline. The themes put forward included informal and innovative methods of teaching adults, the use of the radio to upgrade workers` rights and conditions, the creative use of drama to support adult learning, the targeting of socially and culturally deprived areas for adult programmes, the use of multi-media technology in the development of non-formal educational programmes, and the learning of new family arbitration techniques for today`s society. It is therefore not justified that one can call any of these purely "academic programmes".

Applicants from Malta also submitted six learning partnership projects which look at health education for family units, gender equality programmes, adult cultural exchanges, non-formal education for prison inmates and their wardens, and the development of parental learning within a diverse cultural environment.

The Grundtvig action also offered over 1,000 courses all over Europe, some to be held in Malta, for adult learners. Individual training grants will be allocated to applicants from the Eden foundation, the water technology unit, various NGOs, the education division and our tertiary education sector. A cascade effect is being envisaged where the training is taken back to the national scene from then attending personnel for full use in the local context.

My ministry is convinced that with the current infrastructure provided by the Socrates coordinating committee, full support for the submission of projects is being provided. Technical support provided by the Socrates office ensured that the proposals were of the highest quality and order, aimed at improving adult education both within the national boundaries and the European area.

Among the current Grundtvig participants and beneficiaries in Malta are the main trade unions, the school/campus based educational field, the ministry of education, private companies and a plethora of social organisations.

Many of these were in constant contact with the Socrates office at the University of Malta since early June of last year to discuss their ideas and draw up a Grundtvig project plan. Meetings are held personally with the Grundtvig coordinator until the project is finalized and sent to Brussels for pan-European evaluation.

Grundtvig has been specifically designed to promote innovation and alternative learning pathways in all levels and sectors of education, both formal and non-formal. With lifelong learning as its overarching rationale, Grundtvig aims to reach those aged 16+ who are not still enrolled in initial education - and that means continuing right through to Third Age education for senior citizens.

It places a special emphasis on supporting projects and activities in favour of the `hard to reach` and `non-traditional learners`, and it casts a wide and open net of eligibility as far as education providers are concerned.

Participation in this EU action enhances the role that Malta can play within the wider European sphere and emphasises the fact that, with full membership, our ideas and our innate sense of versatility, heavily tested across the ages, will ensure us a commanding presence with our children, young people and adults across all sectors of our island nation.

Second-chance learning must be high on our agenda; our intention is to develop this in Malta with Europe and in Europe by Malta.