Brussels, 08/09/2005 (Agence Europe) - In 2003, 42% of the EU25 25-64 year-olds had participated in at least one form of education, training or learning activity over the previous twelve months, explains a recent report by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities. The publication presents key statistics on lifelong learning in the 25 EU Member States. 4% were in formal education (education and training in the regular system of schools, universities and colleges); 17% participated in non-formal education (all types of taught learning activities that are not part of a formal education programme) and nearly one in three declared having followed some form of informal learning (self-learning which is not part of either formal or non-formal education and training, using methods such as books, computers, learning centres or educational broadcasting). It should be noted that more than 10% had participated in more than one form of learning activity. However, these figures show that 58% of EU25 citizens did not participate in any kind of learning activity.
The report explains that the participation rate of 25-64 year-olds in any kind of learning activity (formal, non-formal or informal) varied significantly between Member States. The highest participation rates were registered in Austria (89%), Luxembourg and Slovenia (both 82%), Denmark (80%) and Finland (77%), and the lowest in Hungary (12%), Greece (17%), Spain (25%), Lithuania (28%) and the Czech Republic (29%).
Although on average in the EU25 there is no significant difference between the female (41%) and male (43%) participation rates, figures vary in some Member States. In particular, females participated more in Ireland (9 percentage points more than males), Latvia and Lithuania (both 8 p.p. more), while male participation rates were higher in France (8 p.p. more than females).
The unemployed participate less often in non-formal learning than the employed but their volume of training is higher. At EU25 level, 21% of those in employment participated in non-formal learning in 2003, compared with 14% of the unemployed and 6% of the inactive population. The highest participation rates of the unemployed in non-formal education were registered in Denmark (41%), the United Kingdom (26%), Austria and Finland (both 25%), and the lowest in Italy (2%), Lithuania and Poland (both 4%), and Hungary (5%). In terms of intensity, unemployed persons who had had training received a volume of training nearly three times higher than employed persons in most Member States. At EU25 level, the unemployed spent on average 210 hours in non formal education compared to 67 for the employed and 180 for the inactive.
The low-qualified are much more likely not to participate in any form of learning.
In the EU25, 31% of those with tertiary education did not take part in any form of learning, compared to 77% of those who had at most completed lower secondary level. In all Member States, non-participation was higher among the low qualified than for the highly qualified. For the low qualified, non-participation rates ranged from 13% in Austria to 96% in Hungary, while for the highly qualified, non-participation rates varied from 3% in Slovenia to 73% in Hungary.
(Eurostat Statistics in Focus, Population and Social Conditions, 8/2005, “Lifelong learning in Europe”)