The Digital Age Skills Programme

A national programme supporting lifelong learning by funding new educational programmes, courses and training models that are focused on digital skills. The launched a call for proposals open for all adult education providers including summer universities, learning centres and folk high schools in Finland. The programme is an initiative by the Ministry of Education and Culture. The Finnish National Agency for Education is responsible for the coordination and the distribution of funding directed for digital skills education.
In 2018, the Finnish Government proposed an additional 60 million Euros in its budget to be allocated to up-skilling the labour force with a special focus on digital skills. Digiaikakauden Taidot (The Digital Age Skills) programme was established by the Ministry of Education and Culture to coordinate these goals with the main task of strengthening the future competencies of adults. The programme aims to prevent inequalities in education and remove barriers to lifelong learning.
The programme operates by supporting the supply of free and low-threshold digital skills training via multiple educational institutions targeted for adults. The open call for funding of 7 million Euros was opened at the National Board of Education on 3rd September 2018 and ended on 8th October 2018. After the funds were allocated, training activities were to be implemented through educational institutions in cooperation with NGOs and third sector training providers. The training programmes and courses were to cover both basic as well as more advanced digital skills with a focus on areas where there is a shortage of experts such as AI and cybersecurity.
Special attention was to be given to adults with low basic education, the immigrant population, the unemployed and those at risk of unemployment and the elderly.

Context: Finland's goal is to be the most skilled nation in the world. We need to invest in the civilisation, inclusion and skills of the entire population in order to remain at the forefront of world development, both socially and economically.
Many adults are puzzled in the digital world. A modern version of 90s computer courses is needed: more low-threshold digital training, critical literacy, information retrieval, and other general education skills. The PISA survey for adults, or PIAAC, says that as many as 600,000 adult Finns have deficiencies in these basic skills. We are launching a national program to support lifelong learning, the Minister of Education says.

Stakeholders involved: The Finnish National Agency for Education

Key learning points: NEI.

Evaluation: No

Information sources: https://www.nesta.org.uk/blog/digital-frontrunners-spotlight-finland/

Read the full analysis: shorturl.at/ejmsX