Higher Education of Adults in Slovenia­ with or without a Strategy

Abstract

The work on the preparation of the two Slovenian national programs - for higher education and for adult education - is not co-ordinated; the two programs are being designed independently of each other. Creation of the policy and strategy of higher education of adults has remained the domain of adult educators and is, as a rule, not integrated into the overall educational strategy. Adult education in Slovenia thus remains “ an outsider”; it is not an integral or integrated part of higher education. This is reflected in inadequate systemic regulation, which denies ad ult education the position of equality and equivalence with respect to higher education in view of its legal position and administrative status, financing, organisation, program distribution, need satisfaction, development facilities, staff training etc. The experience and practice of a number of highly developed countries is exactly the opposite: the propor­ tion of adul t students is steadily increasing; the adu lt education is a generator of new ideas in higher education, making it “the most propulsive segment of today's education”. In this way, the university has in reality managed to become a “generator” of all education and learning, with adult education playing an important role in the process. The need for implementation of this new concept of learning and education is becoming all the more felt, as the concept and strategy of lifelong education are becoming more and more firmly rooted. To find an outcome form the present situation, Slovenia will need - beside other measures - to establish a development counselling centre to help with the development of higher education of adults.