Education and Lifelong Learning

Education is the most important determinant of economic, social and cultural development. In an era of increasing global interdependence, growing competitiveness depends on a well-functioning education system responsive to rapidly changing labour market realities driven by the development of knowledge, innovation and creativity. From a wider perspective, providing access to education is crucial for securing social equity and cohesion; the awareness of civic rights and responsibilities, raised inter alia at school, fosters the development of democracy and intercultural dialogue.

With that in mind, efforts to modernise education systems are a priority both at European and national level. The consequences of the economic crisis in Europe and the challenges associated with an aging population and a skills   mismatch or deficit, highlighted the need for more efficient investment in education and development fostering inclusive growth. Moreover, EU and national policies and programmes ambitiously aim at encouraging higher education, science, upskilling, lifelong learning, and mobility, promoting equity, social cohesion and active citizenship, improving the quality and efficiency of education and training, and enhancing creativity and innovation at all levels of education and training.

With respect to indicators and benchmarks in vocational education and training monitored by the European Union, Poland has achieved one of the best results in Europe for the prevention of early school leaving and increasing the level of basic skills tested by PISA surveys. It is also distinguished in terms of increasing the number of people with higher education. The remaining challenges refer to skills mismatch, which makes it difficult for young people to find jobs, poor quality of teaching in some institutions of higher education, and a small proportion of adults involved in lifelong learning. Therefore, in recent years, there is a growing emphasis on strengthening the relationship between employment, education, and training policies, and targeting actions on finding ways to improve forecasting of labour market needs and matching the skills of young graduates and other workers to these needs.

The Institute for Labour Market Analyses supports EU and national institutions and agencies, local authorities, universities, schools, private and non-governmental sectors, in addressing the  challenges lited above. The scope of our work includes advisory and research services in the field of education and lifelong learning, including: analysis and evaluation of European and national policies and programmes, developing recommendations and dissemination of research results, and providing general support to assist decision-making processes.