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Working and ageing
228 Guidance and counselling for mature learners

based on this catalogue and certification obtained through accreditation of
prior learning have equal value at national level.
This integrated approach also demands that work carried out by educational
operators should complement that of professional training operators. In this
context, two important national qualifications system structures have emerged:
new opportunities centres and training providers. Adults may directly access
the education-training modality they require at a training provider, especially
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adult education and training courses ( ), and certified modular training.
However, new opportunities centres remain, under the national qualifications
system framework, the entry doors for those wishing to improve their formal
qualifications (Gomes and Simões, 2007). Currently, there is a nationwide
network of 453 centres, promoted by various organisations (private and public
schools, professional schools, professional training centres, local authorities,
companies and business associations, regional and local development
associations, as well as other training providers).
The centres serve citizens who are aged 18 and over, and who have
acquired knowledge and competences during their working lives but have not
finished the 4th, 6th, 9th or 12th years of schooling, or have not obtained a
professional qualification. The main lines of action for new opportunities
centres are to guide and counsel adults on the most adequate qualification
pathways, and to design and develop RVCC pathways.

12.3. Guidance and counselling towards
a qualification

Throughout their lives, individuals pass through various transitions in the
course of their qualification and occupation: from basic level to secondary and
then to higher education, from education to vocational training, from education
to employment, from one job to another, from employment to unemployment,
from employment to retirement. Guidance and counselling plays a key role in
supporting decisions, stressing the responsibility of the individual in setting
goals and implementing strategies for successful career paths (Council of the
EU, 2008).

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( ) EFA courses are currently one of the key tools in adult training strategy. Targeting low qualified
adults over 18 years old, these courses are flexible, offering education and/or training pathways
based on the learnerʼs starting point.