Lifelong learning and accessibility for migrant adult learners

Lifelong learning and accessibility for migrant adult learners Mario Cardona Directorate for Lifelong Learning and Early School Leavers

Lifelong learning as growth • Education cannot have all the solutions to society’s problems. • Education cannot have all the solutions to people’s problems. • But learning is key to people reaching their fulfillment, wherever they are. • Learning is synonymous with growth, personal development in its wider sense.

Lifelong learning as possibility • For Maltese adults lifelong learning means – Getting the qualifications one has failed to obtain in compulsory education – Learning new things for better job prospects – Learning new things to re-enter the labour market after a period of parenthood and home-making – Learning a new language in order to be able to communicate with family and friends – Satisfying the need to meet people and socialise

– Developing one’s creative abilities – Following particular personal interests in crafts, arts, languages, personal and social skills – Equipping oneself with the skills for community involvement and participation • Lifelong learning also means learning from participation in social, cultural and economic activity – Learning from family life – Learning from the workplace – Learning from participation in civil society

Lifelong learning as access • For migrants of all origins, arriving in Malta may be a shock, a possible new start in life, a stepping stone towards another promised land, an open prison, heaven or hell. • Some would want to try making a new life, find a good job, have enough money to live a decent life, many would want to make friends, to have a future, to become human, constantly more human

• For all these persons learning and education offer new possibilities. • Some can afford to go to day courses, at MCAST or maybe ITS. • Others are lucky to have a job and invest time and energy in evening classes of the Adult Education Unit (AEU), MCAST, NGOs.

Participation in AEU courses MFL Level 1 MFL Level 2 EFL Level 1 EFL Level 2 Maltese Entry Level (basic) English MQF 1 English MQF 2 English Sec. English Advanced English Conversation 368 94 266 138 18 44 27 17 92 29 84

Italian MQF 1 Italian MQF 2 Italian Sec. Spanish MQF 1 Spanish MQF 2 Spanish Sec. German MQF 1 German MQF 2 German Sec. Italian Conversation Spanish Conversation French MQF 1 French Level 2 French Sec. French Conversation 100 23 15 54 18 6 42 8 5 13 8 38 7 2 10

Computer Awareness Internet awareness ECDL Living & Working in Malta(non EU nationals) MFL Level 1(short course, non EU nationals) Personal Empowerment Automotive Engineering 10 7 25 53 20 7 4

Lifelong learning as opening up • The AEU has to face the challenge of – Knowing the foreigner – Knowing his or her needs, aspirations, dreams and fears – Knowing how to best speak his or her language – Catering for his or her needs in the most diverse of ways, mainly by co-operating with migrant NGOs – Training Adult Educators to adopt an adequate pedagogy

“I had returned to learn as many languages as possible. Many languages badly rather than one correctly. As long as I could communicate with everybody, get to know people and new problems, feel amused at the sacred boundaries of the homelands. ” Lorenzo Milani

Thank you! Mario Cardona Directorate for Lifelong Learning and Early School Leaving www. lifelonglearning. gov. mt Lifelong Learning Courses Malta & Gozo, Early School Leaving