In Formal Adult Education

Formal adult education developed from the interplay between three fields: mainstream education, vocational training and non-formal adult education. While mainstream education is characterised by long timeframes and certification, vocational training is designed around shorter units to facilitate rapid integration into the labour market. Non-formal adult education organisations focus on group work and the exchange of ideas, without the objective of certification.

Although the term “promotion sociale” was officially enshrined in the Act of 7 July 1970, this form of continuing education had already existed since the second half of the 19th century. Various institutions, such as Sunday and evening courses, were established in the industrial areas of the Walloon Region to offer workers and employees the opportunity to gain qualifications and improve their skills.

In the 1950s, what was initially called “enseignement à horaire réduit” (reduced-schedule education) was harmonised with full-time education through the coordinated laws on technical education of 1957 and 1959, in order to enable students to make a seamless transition.

The individualisation of training pathways was emphasised in the 1970s, particularly during the period of rising unemployment in Western Europe.

Since 1 January 1989, responsibility for educational matters no longer lies with the central State, but with the Regions and Communities.

The structure of formal adult education varies between the Communities. In Flanders, the “Centra voor volwassenenonderwijs” (CVO) mainly offer secondary education, while the provision in the French Community ranges from basic education to master’s degree programmes. (Source: Vue de l’enseignement de promotion sociale au croisement des chemins)

With the exception of one municipal evening school, the “institutes of school-based continuing education” in the German-speaking Community are located within the existing secondary schools. The provision ranges from certified basic courses in languages and IT to secondary qualifications (Abitur) and post-secondary qualifications (the brevets in cooking and sewing). Classes are generally held in the evenings from September to June.

Currently, the school-based continuing education sector is testing new educational formats that are intended to enable adults to enter mainstream vocational education.

In Non-Formal Adult Education

At the level of non-formal adult education, private adult education organisations (i.e. those organised as non-profit associations) have been eligible for recognition and grants from the German-speaking Community for many years. Funding is currently governed by the Decree of 17 November 2008 on the promotion of adult education organisations. The decree describes the role of adult education organisations as follows: the aim is to provide “a coordinated range of educational programmes that helps citizens to improve their key competences and acquire new skills. The objective is to promote social integration, equal opportunities in the broadest sense, collective capacity for action and civic-mindedness, as well as the learning of fundamental social and civic values”. Each adult education organisation designs its course programme in accordance with its respective objectives.

In the German-speaking Community, non-formal adult education organisations have generally emerged from political and social civic movements.

In 1981, an Adult Education Council was established for the first time in the German-speaking Community for non-formal adult education. Its main tasks are to represent the interests of its members and to prepare expert opinions on adult education matters for the Government and Parliament of the German-speaking Community.

In 2025, the Government of the German-speaking Community launched the project “Reorientation of extra-curricular adult education”: by reducing the administrative workload, more scope is to be created for adult education organisations to plan and implement programmes that respond both to the needs of citizens and to social and technological change. The increase in high-quality, citizen-oriented programmes and greater visibility is intended to lead to greater appreciation of the socio-political work of adult education organisations in the German-speaking Community. The current decree and the corresponding implementing regulation are to be amended accordingly.

In Adult Education in the Skilled Trades and Crafts Sector

The history of education in the skilled trades and crafts sector in East Belgium is closely linked to the economic development of the region and the gradual autonomy of the German-speaking Community (DG). It has evolved from traditional craft apprenticeships into a modern dual training system that is regarded as a model of good practice.

Its roots lie in the Prussian education system (before 1919) and later in the Belgian system. With the increasing autonomy of the German-speaking Community, an independent training system developed. The Institute for Training and Continuing Education in the Skilled Trades and Crafts Sector (IAWM) was established as the central supervisory authority, with the role of organising apprenticeships in the skilled trades and crafts: initially, two training centres (“Centres for Training and Continuing Education in the Skilled Trades and Crafts Sector”, ZAWM for short) were founded. Later, these two centres merged into a single ZAWM with two locations. The ZAWM combines theoretical instruction with practical training in the workplace.

At the centre is dual training for young people from the age of 15/16 (apprenticeship contract). There is an increasing opening up of dual training for adults, particularly through the validation of non-formally and informally acquired competences (see the KomAn project). In addition, the maximum age of 29 for concluding an apprenticeship contract has been abolished.

Businesses in the German-speaking Community have been reporting a shortage of skilled workers for years. Open apprenticeship positions in the skilled trades and crafts sector cannot be filled with motivated and suitable candidates despite taster weeks, apprenticeship fairs and other initiatives. Added to this is the demographic trend, which is causing the target group of potential apprentices to shrink from year to year. The matching process between companies willing to provide training and registered jobseekers is unsatisfactory, despite the short distances within the DG. The coordination of training offerings and the assignment of applicants in the DG take place without consistent direction. There remains a need for close cooperation with the Employment Office, including with regard to the creation of suitable “partial qualifications”.