Page 231 - Working-and-ageing-Guidance-and-counselling-for-mature-learning

3062_EN_C1_Layout 1 11/23/11 4:22 PM Page 225

CHAPTER 12
Guiding and counselling

adults in Portugal: new

opportunities for a qualification

41
Cristina Milagre, Maria Francisca Simões, Maria do Carmo Gomes ( )

Portugal launched the ʻNew opportunities initiativeʼ in 2005, to ensure 12 years
of schooling as the minimum level of qualifications for young people and
adults. Under this national programme, new opportunities centres were set
up to act as entry doors to qualifications improvement and provide recognition,
validation and certification of competences. Low-skilled adults are generally
unaware of their own aptitudes, and badly informed of the qualification
opportunities available. The centres are pivotal in clarifying their prospects of
qualification and employability. Based on a holistic approach to adultsʼ abilities
and expectations, this guidance and counselling method eases acquisition of
knowledge, competences, and higher qualifications levels. Moreover, this
method has been key in motivating adults to participate in other lifelong
learning activities, as well as in encouraging their personal fulfilment,
professional self-confidence, and self-esteem.

12.1. Adult education policies in Portugal

Qualification and schooling levels of Portuguese citizens is significantly lower
than in most other European Union and OECD countries (Gomes and
Capucha, 2010). Distribution of working population schooling levels is actually
the inverse of average distribution in those countries; lifelong learning rates
are one of the lowest in the European Union ( ). These data reveal the weak
42
position of Portugal compared to other European partners, which is also an
obstacle to economic and social development. Therefore, modernisation,

41
( ) National Qualifications Agency (ANQ, IP), Portugal. The authors wish to thank Georgina Marques,
Teresa Gaspar, and Fernanda Araújo for their collaboration.
42
( ) EU-27 average is 9.6%; Portugal has a lifelong learning rate of 5.3% (Eurostat, 2010).