The Wallonia-Brussels Federation intends to play its part in raising the employment rate, an objective pursued at various levels of government.
That is why, on a proposal from the Minister of Education and Adult Education, Valérie Glatigny, the Government of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation adopted, at first reading, the preliminary draft decree implementing the 2035 Contract for Adult Education.
This adoption marks an important step in making Adult Education a strategic pillar of lifelong learning, meeting the needs of society and the labour market and enabling everyone to train, gain qualifications, develop professionally or retrain.
Training to get people back into work
Wallonia and Brussels face a major challenge: around a third of the working-age population lacks sufficient qualifications, while the employment rate stands at around 68%. At the same time, technological change, artificial intelligence and the rapid evolution of jobs are making the need for reskilling ever greater.
To sustainably raise the employment rate, more people must therefore be able to acquire the skills needed to enter the labour market, find work again, stay in work or retrain.
With 146 institutions, 135,000 learners and more than 1,000 courses, Adult Education is already a powerful tool. The 2035 Contract now aims to make full use of it in the service of this ambition.
“Adult Education is a quiet giant still too little valued and insufficiently visible in the education landscape. We want to make training a genuine lever for returning to employment. In an economy where jobs are evolving rapidly, the best security is skills. With the 2035 Contract, Adult Education becomes a cornerstone of our overall labour market reform. We want to train more people, but above all to train where the needs exist: in shortage occupations, in recruiting sectors and in the skills our businesses need. Training, qualifying or retraining means giving yourself the means to find work again, to progress professionally and to take back control of your life plan. This is a genuine policy of emancipation and empowerment”, stresses Valérie Glatigny.
Training with the world of work
The 2035 Contract aims to bring the training offer closer to the real needs of the labour market. The goal is to adapt training more quickly to emerging occupations and shortage occupations, while also strengthening links with businesses and professional sectors.
This will be achieved in particular through more partnerships with businesses, internships and work-study programmes, as well as through better cooperation with other education and training providers.
The reform also provides for:
- the development of micro-credentials, to allow for shorter, recognised and combinable training courses. In practice, a person could take one or more training units, for example in detecting and protecting against cybersecurity incidents, and obtain a micro-credential certifying this set of skills. They could stop at that stage to meet an immediate professional need, but could also, if they wish, continue their pathway directly or later while keeping these micro-credentials as acquired;
- better recognition of prior learning, so that people do not have to relearn what they already master. For example, someone who has worked in a sector for several years but goes back to studying to obtain the corresponding qualification could have certain skills recognised and only need to complete what is missing to obtain the qualification;
- more flexible and personalised pathways, adapted to the professional and family constraints of adults;
- stronger support for learners, adapted to the realities of an adult audience, in order to foster their engagement and success;
- a modernised governance, quality-assurance approach and funding system to better direct resources, in particular by encouraging the funding of training courses that lead to employment.
The 2035 Contract is thus fully part of the systemic reform of qualifying education, Adult Education and vocational training. It is intended to become the link dedicated to lifelong education and continuous training, by strengthening the capacity of Adult Education to meet the training needs of society and the world of work.