In December 2021, the foundation Smart Minds conducted a survey on the job tasks, job responsibilities and required skills of the adult education coordinators in municipalities in Latvia. In the surveys were involved 34 people who work as an adult education coordinator on a daily basis. The survey was conducted within the Erasmus + program project “Promotion of new adult education opportunities at the local level”, project No.2021-1-LV01-KA210-ADU-000034001.

29.4% of the respondents have the job position - adult education coordinator, however, more than 70% of the respondents have a different job title, because the coordination of adult education is defined as an additional job and takes place in the order of combining positions. Coordination of adult education in municipalities is performed by employees who have the following job titles: education specialist, specialist in the field of professional orientation and adult education, project manager, project coordinator, education methodologist in adult education, head of department, education specialist, deputy head of the department of culture, sports and lifelong learning, head of the business support department, coordinator of interest education, organizer of the education process, specialist of the department of education and youth, deputy head of the department of education and others (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Job position.

Source: Survey made by Foundation Smart minds, 2021.

Those involved in the coordination of adult education have a high level of education - 76.5% of those responsible for adult education had a master's degree, 14.7% had a 2nd level higher education (bachelor), 5.9% had a 1st level higher education (college), 2.9% - vocational education (Figure 2).

Figure2: Education level of adult education coordinators.

 Source: Survey made by Foundation Smart minds, 2021.

The majority or 52.9% of those involved in the coordination of adult education were in education field, 29% in the social sciences, business or law, 19.4% in the humanities and the arts and other fields.

91.2% of the respondents work in the local municipalities, 5.9% - in educational institutions and 2.9% in a training center maintained by the municipality (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Workplace of adult learning coordinators.

Source: Survey made by Foundation Smart minds, 2021.

Most common job tasks are:

1. To provide informative support about education opportunities in the local municipality and beyond (64.7%).
2. To promote a culture of lifelong learning in the local municipality by informing the society about adult education (52.9%);
3. Regularly improve knowledge about adult education and employment issues and related legal acts (52.9%).
4. To cooperate with local government institutions or structural units, employers, as well as with state institutions that administer and offer adult education activities (50%);
5. To plan and implement measures (training programs) for the development of adult education in the municipality (41.2%) ;
6. To activate and motivate the involvement of adults in adult learning, if necessary, by providing individualized support for starting learning or career counselling (32.4%);
7. To identify the target groups of adult education in the municipality, their needs and obstacles to the participation in adult learning and to participate in the reduction of barriers by developing individualized educational offers (29.4%);
8. Regularly identify and summarize the educational needs of the local inhabitants of municipality, the demand of employers, the supply of educational institutions in the field of adult education (26.5%);

Most important* job tasks are:

1. To provide informative support about education opportunities in the local municipality and beyond (82.3%);
2. To promote a culture of lifelong learning in the local municipality by informing the society about adult education (79.5%);
3. To plan and implement measures (training programs) for the development of adult education in the municipality (70.6%);
4. To cooperate with local government institutions or structural units, employers, as well as with state institutions that administer and offer adult education activities (67.7%);
5. Regularly improve knowledge about adult education and employment issues and related legal acts (67.6%);
6. To identify the target groups of adult education in the municipality, their needs and obstacles to the participation in adult learning and to participate in the reduction of barriers by developing individualized educational offers (61.8%);
7. Regularly identify and summarize the educational needs of the local inhabitants of municipality, the demand of employers, the supply of educational institutions in the field of adult education (55.8%);
8. To activate and motivate the involvement of adults in adult learning, if necessary, by providing individualized support for starting learning or career counselling (41.1%).

* rating 5 and 4, where 5 is the most significant.

Looking to the future for 5-10 years, those involved in coordinating adult education consider that the most important job tasks will be:

1. To provide informative support about education opportunities in the local municipality and beyond (88.2%);
2. To cooperate with local government institutions or structural units, employers, as well as with state institutions that administer and offer adult education activities (64.7%);
3. To plan and implement measures (training programs) for the development of adult education in the municipality (58.8%);
4. To promote a culture of lifelong learning in the local municipality by informing the society about adult education (58.8%);
5. To identify the target groups of adult education in the municipality, their needs and obstacles to the participation in adult learning and to participate in the reduction of barriers by developing individualized educational offers (50%);
6. To activate and motivate the involvement of adults in adult learning, if necessary, by providing individualized support for starting learning or career counselling (50%).
7. Regularly improve knowledge about adult education and employment issues and related legal acts (50%);
8. Regularly identify and summarize the educational needs of the local inhabitants of municipality, the demand of employers, the supply of educational institutions in the field of adult education (47.1%).

The most important responsibilities in adult education coordinator work are to apply requirements of legal acts in everyday work (73.5%), regular knowledge and professional skills improvement by participating in work related courses, seminars and self-education (67.6%), ensuring security of personal data and for the non-disclosure of restricted information to third parties (47.1%)

The most important skills and competences in adult education coordinator work are:

1. Communication and collaboration capabilities (97.1%)
2. Planning and organizational skills (91.2%)
3. Digital skills (91.2%)
4. Ethical understanding and tolerance (70.6%)
5. Communication and argumentation skills (70.6%)
6. Ability to take initiative and make decisions (67.6%)
7. Advanced user of Excel, Word, Internet (55.9%)
8. Self-directed learning ability (55.9%)

­This survey was conducted within the Erasmus + program project “Promotion of new adult education opportunities at the local level”, project No.2021-1-LV01-KA210-ADU-000034001. You can find out more about the project: https://www.smartminds.lv/index.php/en/projects/promoting-new-adult-education-opportunities-at-local-level-adults-local

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