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1. A total of 29 countries participated in the European Adult Education Survey

In Finland, the 2006 Adult Education Survey was the fifth survey in succession to study the adult population’s participation in education and training, education and training and know-how. The first four surveys were joint ventures with the Ministry of Education, and were implemented mainly with the ministry’s funding. The 2006 Adult Education Survey was part of the European Union Adult Education Survey (EU-AES) which was carried out for the first time in 29 countries in the EU and coordinated and mainly funded by Eurostat. The information was collected between 2005 and 2008. In November 2008 Eurostat published results for the first 18 countries in table format on its website.

The results presented in this review are based on the data published by Eurostat.

The results of Finland’s own national Adult Education Survey were presented on Statistics Finland’s website and in the publication ¹⁾ .

The results of the European Adult Education Survey (EU-AES) on Finland diverge somewhat from the previously published results of the national Adult Education Survey. This is due to the following two matters:

1. Different population

The population of the survey co-ordinated by Eurostat comprises persons aged 25 to 64 permanently resident in the country. The population of the national Adult Education Survey comprised persons aged 18 to 64.

2. Different indicators

2. Different indicators In the national Adult Education Survey, the concepts adult education, employer-sponsored training and job- or occupation-related training were used. In the EU-AES project, on the other hand, education and training are classified based on whether or not they lead to a qualification, and the concepts formal education and training, which leads to a qualification and non-formal education and training, which do not lead to a qualification, are used. The subject of the EU-AES was all training received by the adult population (persons aged 25 to 64), whereas the Finnish national Adult Education Survey has traditionally focused on education that has been arranged and organised for adults, i.e. adult education. The concept of the national Adult Education Survey is determined on the basis of the organisation providing education or the system of arranging the education (see Concepts and definitions at Statistics Finland’s website ).

The results presented in this review include the following countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Slovakia only provided information on the number of instruction hours in education and training that leads to a qualification, and information on the cost of education and training was not available for France and Italy.

The following section examines participation in education and training during a 12-month period, the number of instruction hours received in education and training, and the cost of education and training in different countries.

1) Pohjanpää - Niemi - Ruuskanen: Participation in adult education and training. Adult Education Survey 2006. Education 2008. Statistics Finland, Helsinki.

Source: EU Adult Education Survey, Eurostat

Inquiries: Timo Ruuskanen (09) 1734 3620, Irja Blomqvist (09) 1734 3221

Director in charge: Riitta Harala

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Updated 24.4.2009