Lifelong learning

The new year has already begun, hello 2019! Many people have new resolutions, such as eating healthier, exercising more or quitting smoking. I also hear plenty of stories of people who want to develop themselves extra in the work field again this year, who want to take a new course or maybe even look for a new job. What about you?

If you have this as a resolution, you are not alone. In 2016, the CBS released a report with the theme 'Lifelong Learning'. In it, it can be found that the Netherlands scores relatively high compared to other EU member states when it comes to participation in 'lifelong learning'. The main reasons for learning something new are to be able to improve one's own work, or to improve career opportunities. Of course, there are also other reasons to start learning something new. For example, I have taken a Spanish course myself on occasion because I wanted to learn something new, to continue to develop myself, but also because I had a nice trip to Peru planned. 

For example, in 2014, as many as 1.6 million people in the Netherlands were following a course or training, i.e. almost 18% of 25- and 65-year-olds. In the EU, only France, Denmark, Finland and Sweden have this percentage even higher. In Denmark, it is as high as 32%! However, we must take into account that the education system in Denmark is different from that in the Netherlands, which means that Danes are still in initial education at a later age. I have also experienced this myself. When I was 19, I studied for three months at a Danish teacher training college. With my 19 years I was remarkably young, most of the students were a lot older, between 20 and 30 years old.

The proportion of people participating in lifelong learning is growing and growing. For example, the 2014 report said that participation in this grew from 16.4 to 17.8% between 2004 and 2014. And so I found in the recent article from Education in Figures from 2018 that already 1.7 million people in the Netherlands took a course or training. In 2014, this was still a number of 1.6 million people. So the number had risen again.

There are a few more interesting facts in the CBS article.

• For example, the highly educated participate relatively more in lifelong learning than the less educated. This can be explained by the fact that highly educated people often work in fields of work where many changes take place, requiring them to continually retrain.
• Furthermore, natives and non-natives participate relatively equally in lifelong learning. However, the reasons differ; for example, many (non-Western) persons of foreign heritage follow an integration course.
• Despite the fact that one would think that unemployed people would be more likely to take a course than employed people, because a course can increase the likelihood of finding work again, it has been found that the proportion of unemployed people taking a course is smaller than individuals in the employed population.
• Furthermore, how often people take a course or training differs by sector. For example, medical specialists, people in education, the financial sector or government follow them most often. Participation in lifelong learning takes place least in the agricultural sector.

Especially the short training courses are taken to improve one's own work or career opportunities. When people opt for longer training, it is often to enable them to make a career switch.

So... will you be taking any courses this year?