The lifelong learning practices of people in Estonia with no vocational or higher education have been investigated by a recent study. The results of a detailed questionnaire designed to gain insight into their independent lifelong learning showed that participation is higher than expected. The study also examined employers’ training policies for workers who have no vocational or higher education and looked at local governments’ willingness to support lifelong learning.
About the study
In 2012, the Estonia Centre for Applied Research (CENTAR) carried out the study entitled The participation of people with neither vocational nor tertiary education in lifelong learning (2.4 MB PDF). It investigates the learning practices of people who have no vocational or higher education. The study uses both primary and secondary data:
- quantitative analysis of data from Eurostat’s Adult Education Survey (AES), carried out in 2007 (a pilot study) and in 2011, and of data from Eurostat’s Continuing Vocational Training Survey (CVTS) 2010;
- face-to-face interviews with 500 people selected from the population aged between 25 and 64 with no vocational or higher education;
- telephone interviews with 300 employers;
- an online poll engaging all local authority representatives;
- a literature review of previous studies and policy measures used in other countries;
- 24 additional interviews in the pilot and ex-post phase of the study.
Key findings
Participation in lifelong learning
It was found that an individual’s educational level and nationality affects the likelihood of them taking part in lifelong learning. People with general secondary or primary education are between 15% and 33% less likely to take part in lifelong learning. Those with vocational education and those with Estonian citizenship are between 15% and 24% more likely to take part of lifelong learning compared with people of other nationalities.
Among those currently acquiring a formal education, the main reason that more than 80% of them gave for continuing their studies was to obtain a professional qualification and diploma. Among people participating in additional training, the main reason given by around 65% for participating in further learning was to become better at their job and to improve their career prospects.
The main obstacles to lifelong learning given by those who said they were willing to participate were course prices, incompatibility with work schedule and availability of suitable training courses. Among people who were not participating in lifelong learning and said they were not willing to do so, the main reasons given were health, age and family responsibilities.
Participation in independent learning
The Adult Education Survey data showed that, on average, around 40% of people without vocational or higher education were engaged in independent learning. However, researchers used a more detailed questionnaire to study independent learning activities and included a question that asked whether independent learning activities were work-related, community-related, household-related or ‘other’. The results showed that between 68% and 85% of those aged 25–64 with no vocational or tertiary education had participated in independent learning activities within the past 12 months.
Participation in independent learning activities in the past 12 months, 2012
| Type of learning activities | Participation rate |
| Work-related (such as information on occupational health and safety, learning foreign languages) | 43%–57% |
| Community-related (such as social problems in community, organisation of community events) | 7%–13% |
| Household-related (such as home renovation, budget planning) | 52%–62% |
| Other (such as hobbies, religion) | 55%–72% |
Source: CENTAR 2012, ‘The participation of people with neither vocational nor tertiary education in lifelong learning’
The main reasons given for independent learning were to broaden horizons, and a desire to perform better at work. Age and lack of time were the main reasons for not being engaged in independent learning. Interestingly, people aged between 40 and 49 and between 30 and 39 gave age as one of the main reasons why they were not engaged in learning.
Employers and local government
The study examined employers’ training policies and found that most do not differentiate between employees on the basis of educational attainment when considering their training, but also that they prefer to recruit employees who will not need extensive additional training. The study found that local governments also offer their measures to everyone and do not differentiate between educational levels. Local governments in Estonia prefer to play a modest role in lifelong learning and mainly see themselves as promoters of lifelong learning principles rather than providers.
Recommendations
The study makes several recommendations to improve participation in lifelong learning among people with neither vocational nor tertiary education. For example, it suggests placing more emphasis on measures that support independent learning, such as information technology (IT) and language courses, and raising awareness of various lifelong learning opportunities. It also suggests broadening the current definition of the ‘participation of lifelong learning indicator’ to take independent learning into account.
Liina Osila, Mihkel Nestor and Reelika Ermel, PRAXIS Centre for Policy Studies