Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competences in Slovenia Wales EAAL Impact Forum, 28 September 2015 Input by colleagues of the Slovenian Institute for Adult Education (SIAE)

Slovenia and adult education Area: 20,273 km 2 Population: 2,056,262, adults (15+): 1,761,726 Independance (1992), EU member (2004) Labour force: approx. 1 mio Registered unemployment: 13 % Youth unemployment: 16,9 % Participation in LL: 16.2 % in 2010, 11.9 % in 2014 Challenge: the structure of participants Adult skills: PIAAC results available in July 2016

Legal basis for adult education (AE) Act on Financing and Organisation of Education (1996) Adult Education Act (1996; status of AE) – being renewed Adult Education Master Plan (2005–2010, 2013–2020): o General, non-formal adult education and learning o Formal adult education o Job-related adult education and training o Supporting activities (guidance, promotion, quality…) Financing until 2020: approx. 400 mio EUR Annual AE Programme (goals, activities and funds)

Slovenian Institute for Adult Education Public institute for the development of AE (1992) Financed by o Ministry of education, science and sport o Ministry of labour, family, social affairs and equal opportunities o European Structural Funds and other EU funds National coordinator of the implementation of the European Agenda for Adult Learning (EAAL)

Slovenian Institute for Adult Education Four clusters of work: o Research and development (AE system, adult literacy and non-formal adult education) o Guidance and validation of prior learning o Quality and training of adult educators o Promotion and information Adult literacy has been a permanent field of work for more than 20 years.

Period 1994– – – – PIAAC R2 ALL – Adult Life Skills Survey IALS – International Adult Literacy Survey Slovenia in Adult Skills Surveys OECD ADULT SKILLS SURVEYS Slovenian participation

Predstavitev izsledkov raziskave, Ester Možina, Andragoški center Slovenije, Ljubljana, junij 2000 str.7 Prose literacy across IALS countries 1. level2. level3. level4/5. level % IALS

IALS - Adult Literacy in Slovenia, April 2014 IALS – Low educated adults‘ achievements in literacy % Source: Adult Literacy Survey, SIAE 1998

Study and analysis IALS results: 77% of adults aged 16–65 performed below international average – a cultural shock! Development Increased public funding for AL development and provision New concept of AL programmes Implementation Provision via ESF Teacher training Network of providers Evaluation and research National evaluation and renewal of the programmes 2010–2013 PIAAC 2013–2016 From IALS to PIAAC

PIAAC R1 + R countries (18+2 EU)

PIAAC Assessment design

Implementation of PIAAC in Slovenia

Legal base for financing PIAAC ESF Programme documents in line with the regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Social Fund each MS prepared documents: o National Strategic Reference Framework 2007–2013 o Operational Programme for Human Resources Development for the Period 2007–2013 (2014–2020) National strategic documents: o National Developmental plan 2005 o National Developmental Strategy 2005 and o Adult Education Master Plan (AEMP) 2004–2010 (2013–2020)

Selection: public tender issued in December 2012 Selection criteria: o Research plan and policy recommendations o References of 25 researchers o Experiences in the large surveys work o Previous collaboration with OECD Start of the project: 1 February 2013 (transl. in 2012!) End of the project: 30 June sectors involved: education, labour, culture, health, agriculture, internal affairs, environment (traffic) – in line with AEMP 2013–2020 PIAAC in Slovenia – facts

Slovenian and OECD Timeline R OECD FT data collection MS data collection Data cleaning and analysis Slovenia – data collection Translation FT data collection MS data collection Data clean. Slovenia – data analysis Data analyisis, expert bases for policy development, training of adult educators OECD release, July 2016 Slovenija – end of the eligible period of funding Slovenija – start of the project Ministry of Education

PIAAC – International and national level International PIAAC Consortium Slovenian National co-ordination PIAAC (located in the Ministry of education) National PIAAC consortium Ministry of education AE Expert Council OECD Board of participation countries EUROPEAN COMISSION SGIB Expert Group on Adult Skills Representatives of 5 ministries 18 MS in R1 and 2 MS in R2 Special:

: 1,339,000 EUR 400,000 EUR National costs: 1,339,000 EUR (+ international overhead costs – 400,000 EUR; per year: 64,000 EC + 20,000 SI; 5 yrs) ESF 85%, SI – Ministry of education 15% Structure: ESF 85%, SI – Ministry of education 15% (+ part of the annual overhead costs) National organisational structure of the project: o National co-ordination for PIAAC (5-year mandate!) o Implementing consortium: 3 organisations – SIAE,leading partner, University of Ljubljana – 3 faculties, and National Statistical Office o Staff: 25 researchers, 60 interviewers, altogether 100 people worked in the project (6 full-time staff, the other part-time) PIAAC in Slovenia – facts

Title of the Slovenian project: „Assessment of effectiveness of educational systems and development of competences of adult educators“ Data collection (80% of the funds) Analysis and expert basis for policy development (20% of the budget) Two parts of PIAAC

Training of interviewers – essential for relevant response rate and quality of data! <

Benchmark achieved on 10th of December 2014

Data cleaning and preparation of data base Main study – 5,000 adults Field test – 1,500 adults 1 preliminary national report 1 final conference with 100 participants 9 thematic studies 8 expert bases for policy development sensibilisation of 150 adult educators Expected outcomes / indicators of Slovenian project Data collection Analyses

Thematic studies covering 4 areas Key skills and competences for the labour market Influence of skills on the social and economic success of individuals and social groups Skills of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups Efficiency of educational systems in developing skills and competencies

Expert bases for policy development Related to: Indicators and benchmarks on adult skills Programmes for youth and adults Further training of educators New teaching materials and technologies Competences for the labour market Balanced regional development Vulnerable groups Systemic measures by other sectors

Difficulties and concerns Smaller budget than comparable countries Different timelines Slovenian project & OECD and therefore shorter deadlines Immense burden of reporting (monthly and quaterly to the ministry, quaterly to national coordination and national consortium, 2 times a year to the PIAAC research group, monthly to international consortium on sampling and survey operations Heavy administration and financial management procedures in Slovenian case

Some opportunities: Evidence on Slovenia‘s human capital (economic nad social) and international comparisons Insight into advancement since 1998 (literacy, numeracy) Insight into the level of new competences (problem solving in technologically-rich environments) Structural groups‘ varieties and differences Better understanding of the relative efficiency of educational (sub)systems (connection PISA and PIAAC) Measure of the effects of the social and economic crisis (restrictive policies, cuts …) Basis for inter-sectoral policies …

PIAAC Slovenia website: Link to EAAL: Promoting Adult Skills (PAS) events: Contacts: Ester Možina Zvonka Pangerc Pahernik