The Marrakech Framework for Action and responding to the skills revolution

The Marrakech Framework for Action and responding to the skills revolution

The Marrakech Framework for Action was adopted at the closing of the Seventh International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VII). Organised by UNESCO, the conference was held in Marrakesh, Morocco on the 15-17 June.

The theme was ‘Adult learning and education for sustainable development – A transformative agenda’. The high-level event took stock of achievements in adult learning as well as examined challenges and put forward solutions.

Over 1,200 participants representing 148 countries attended CONFINTEA, with a third in person and two-thirds remotely attending. Several events were hosted by UNESCO, which included civil society, youth and private sector, while there were 11 panels and 20 workshops to assess adult education learning outcomes since the last CONFINTEA, in Belém, Brazil in 2009.

“Adult education is a human right. We cannot achieve social and economic progress without empowering every men and woman to have positive change,” said Ambassador Santiago Irazabal Mourão, President of the UNESCO General Conference. “The Belém Framework raised the stakes for lifelong learning (LLL). Many steps have been taken since then, as part of the Vision 2030 agenda, for inclusive and quality education for all. A large part of the world’s adult and young population continue to be deprived of basic skills to participate in the labour market and society. The world has 750 million illiterate adults, and the number of people with low literacy skills has hardly changed in 20 years, and in some regions, increased.”

The Marrakech Framework for Action cemented the commitments of UNESCO member states to shape the future of adult learning and education. While 20 amendments were put forward, the recommendations for the Framework were fully endorsed by attendees, which includes strengthening financing for adult learning, literacy policies, support for teachers and educators, and ensuring that learners are engaged in the planning, design and implementation of policies and programmes.

“We must expand the notion of the right to education throughout life, based on social, economic and environmental justice. In the future, education must be more inclusive, and include indigenous knowledge,” said the Special Rapporteur at the conference’s plenary. “The labour market is transforming and that is likely to intensify in the years to come. We need to promote LLL pathways.”

The rapporteur added that the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning recently released its medium-term strategy, 2022-2029, while LLL will be a focus at the Transforming Education Summit in September 2022.

Responding to the Skills Revolution

The European Commission organised an online session, with the title “Responding to the Skills Revolution – development of skills through innovative instruments” in the framework of CONFINTEA conference. 

The session focused on how to make learning pathways more flexible to enable more adults to participate in education. “All the speakers noted that there is low participation in adult education by those with low qualification. Vulnerable groups are the most in need, but have benefitted the least due to various barriers and issues, from investment to attractiveness (of training courses),” said Cristina Mereuta, who gave a presentation on behalf of ETF.

She stressed the need for innovative instruments to address the uneven progress of adult participation in training, and for “meaningful data sets that pin point or reveal the bottle-necks.”

Of concern is that a large proportion of adults do not participate in further education or training because they are not willing to do so. “We need to work on the motivation and expectations of learners,” she said. “This is particularly important in the context of the adoption of the Marrakech Framework for Action in the field of Adult Learning and Education in the framework of CONFINTEA covering the next 12 years.”

Regarding individual learning accounts and other enabling arrangements, the session included examples of Singapore, France, the Netherlands and Australia that have achieved successful innovative learning approaches. This has been achieved through relevance for individuals, outreach strategies, orientation and counseling, enabling complementary services to support participation in training, flexibility of training on offer (such as microcredentials) and strong participation of social partners and other stakeholders.

“In the Netherlands, the involvement of social partners has been a strong aspect of their practice. In Australia, they use microcredentials, as a lot of learners don’t have the time or willingness to complete a full qualification or long course. This allows for flexibility in training courses,” she said.

The European Commission highlighted the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, which has set a target for 60% of all adults to take part in training every year by 2030. On 16 June, the Employment and Social Affairs Ministers of the EU Member States endorsed the Individual Learning Accounts (ILA) recommendation. “The ILA recommendation is a milestone in promoting access to individualised and flexible learning opportunities for all,” said Mereuta.

Global Report on Adult Learning and Education, African Institute for Lifelong Learning

UNESCO’s Fifth Global Report on Adult Learning and Education (GRALE 5) was released at the conference. The report includes survey data, policy analysis and case studies to provide policy-makers, researchers and practitioners an up-to-date picture of the status of Adult Learning and Education (ALE) in UNESCO member states, and provided a review of citizenship education.

The establishment of the African Institute for Lifelong Learning, a Moroccan initiative, was also proposed during the event to strengthen South-South coordination and the capacities of regional stakeholders, institutions and organizations to bolster adult education.