Many concepts and terms related to adult education and training policy in Poland can be understood differently, depending on the setting and context where they are used. This applies, in particular, to the area of adult education and training. The understanding of the term ‘adult education’ has evolved in the recent decades. Research and policy discourse have used a wide range of terms, including adult education, permanent education, lifelong education, continuing education and learning in adulthood, to emphasise responsibility and motivation and individual learning experience.

Since 2013, efforts have been made to embed in the field of education terms which are consistent with the definitions of lifelong learning (UNESCO, OECD and EU documents), including adult education and training. At that time, the Government adopted new strategic documents, The Lifelong Learning Perspective (Perspektywa uczenia się przez całe życie) and The Human Capital Development Strategy (Strategia Rozwoju Kapitału Ludzkiego), which defined basic policy terms for lifelong learning (LLL).

The key factors in making LLL a reality are skills and conditions and opportunities for skills development, which are necessary for social capital enhancement, economic growth and high quality of life. These are the central aspects of ‘The Integrated Skills Strategy 2030’(ISS 2030) (Zintegrowana Steategia Umiejętności)  a public policy, the general part of which was adopted by the Government in January 2019, and the detailed part in December 2020 (last accessed August 2024). 

Policy documents adopted in Poland and the EU and the national legislation for school education use the following terms relating to adult education and training:

• Continuing education  (CE) (kształcenie ustawiczne), defined in the Act of 14 December 2016, The Law on School Education, as subsequently amended (ustawa z dnia 14 grudnia 2016 r. – Prawo oświatowe, z późn. zm.) (Article 4, section 30). CE is understood as education in schools for adults, stage II sectoral vocational schools and post-secondary schools, and as acquisition of new and supplementary knowledge, skills and vocational qualifications or retraining for new or additional skills or qualifications within the same occupational group in non-school settings for individuals who have completed full-time compulsory education. 

• Adult education (AE) (edukacja dorosłych) is used as an equivalent of adult education and training (AET) (kształcenie i szkolenia dorosłych). The scope of AET extends far beyond the fields of school education, higher education and traditional training courses leading to qualifications. AET is also provided as on-the-job practical training or as organised activities of citizens’ groups or communities. There is no comprehensive definition of AET in Poland. This may result, on the one hand, from a vast area it covers, and on the other hand, from difficulties in assigning the responsibility for this type of education and training provision to a single administrative structure.

• Adult learning (uczenie się dorosłych)is understood as learning at the adult life stage, a stage of LLL in various forms and settings (formal, non-formal and informal). In this context, adult learning is part of a sequence of learning activities accompanying the entire life from early years to advanced old age. Skills that individuals possess, develop and acquire play a key role in adult learning understood in this way. In the strategic documents, and in particular the ISS 2030, development of skills (basic, transversal, vocational or professional) is closely linked to LLL in its various (personal, family, social and professional) contexts.

Eurostat data (which stem from the EU Labour Force Survey and cover the total population aged 25 to 64 years) indicate an increase in the proportion of adults in Poland participating in education or training during the 4 weeks preceding the survey. The proportion in 2023 was 8.7%, compared to 5.7% in 2018, 4.9% in 2019, 3.8% in 2020, 5.6% in 2021 and 7.8% in 2022. However, the proportion of adults participating in LLL in Poland is still smaller than the average for the 27 EU Member States (12.8% in 2023), which has also been slowly increasing.

AET is the most diversified area of education and training in Poland. This is due not only to the diversity of the target groups, their age and social and professional status, forms of education and training, methods for the validation of learning outcomes achieved, in particular, in non-formal and informal learning, but also to the wide range of providers. In identifying AET, all sectors of socio-economic activity (public administration, business entities and non-governmental organisations) should be considered as, unlike in school education, the State does not have a dominating position in AET. With regard to its objectives and organisational form, AET may be divided into formal and non-formal education/learning. 

Source: Author’s own elaboration.

The diagram above does not include informal learning as it is not considered as an institutionalised form of AET. Informal learning remains ‘outside’ the diagram, although some of its learning outcomes may be validated and, consequently, become certified learning outcomes, which are increasingly important in adult education. This learning sector forms a whole together with the other sectors of education and training, and learners may attain each qualification level through both formal education and other learning paths.

For details about AET funding, see Chapter 2.3 ‘Adult education and training funding’.