The impact of non-formal education on the development of skills and competencies

Abstract

In the introduction of this study, we first clarify the fundamental dilemma and the basic concepts of adult education. We will analyse the integration of the Memorandum on Lifelong Learning in the continuity of efforts toward a higher level of development of the individual and his or her capabilities. We will observe whether or not an adult has a compensatory role, the results of which will be the basis for exploring the importance of non-formal education for skills development in the empirical section of our research. We will analyze two research questions using data available in the PIAAC research dataset, with a focus on an analysis of the average of all countries involved. In some cases, we will also include an analysis of data for some individual countries. The results demonstrate the significance of non-formal education for achievements in all three areas that were used to measure skills achievement. For those with less education, engaging in non-formal education produced more positive effects than it did for those with secondary and higher education. Importantly, we have established that non-formal education connected with work does not have more impact than the same education pursued for more personal reasons. For some skills we measured, the data have demonstrated that, in all cases, adults who have participated in non-work-related non-formal education achieved better results than those who engaged in work-related non-formal education.