Prof.ssa Beatrice Barbalato

Unione per la Lotta contro L’Analfabetismo, Rome

UNLA is not a state organisation but is supported by the state. The head office and the executive are in Rome. We have 37 Centri Cultiurali – cultural centres – which are located all over Italy. UNLA has an interesting history. It is a laizistic institution (laizism is a line of thought which demands the radical separation of church and state). As well as this there is a close link to adult education.

This is quite unusual in Italy as generally the Catholic church is very active in this sector. UNLA was founded in 1957 under difficult circumstances during the post-war period and with a high rate of illiteracy in Southern Italy. UNLA was used in the battle against illiteracy. Southern Italy remained underprivileged and economically underprivileged after Italian unification in the last century so that the need always existed of fulfilling these aims for the South. Of course now the situation has changed but many problems still exist and these must be solved. There is no central institution of adult education in Italy, initiatives are run regionally and they vary from region to region. A number of things are being done here and there but these are not co-ordinated nationally. This is the first problem and a very big one. There are a lot of teaching staff who do a lot and provide support in making this co-ordination easier. I would like to point out that there are relevant laws in Italy, one passed in 1974 which allows a worker or an employee to use 150 hours a year for further training. This means that these 150 hours can be done in the evening or during the day and this is an obligation. The second law is a law which is not applied as much as it should be. It was passed in 1994, is therefore relatively new and is the outcome of pay negotiations and a social agreement between the trade unions and the national educational institutions. According to this lay, institutions can be set up so that each institution in a village or a town can take up the demands made by the population and react accordingly. This is something very democratic as here an attempt is being made to align public demands with educational programmes. However it is clear that it is not always easy to fulfil every demand made.

It is not easy for people to put their needs and wishes into words, to articulate what they want in the way of education. It is here that we are collating results, but these results are not very positive, not very good. This is because not enough has been offered although the law puts a very positive interpretation on these demands. This means that attempts are really being made to do something in Italy. I must emphasise that the law was drawn up by those involved in education. Our Minister of Education is himself an educational scientist and knows the circumstances involved, the needs and the problem areas.

I would now like to say something about the SOCRATES Project which we are working on together, as well as something about the positive results and about the difficulties we have experienced and seen. We have drawn up a questionnaire to deal with the various aspects. This questionnaire is very detailed and subtle. However it initially difficult to get answers. We then had the idea of spreading the questionnaire over various localities. For instance in Naples we gave it to adults, in Brussels to trainers of immigrants, in Calabria in a small village called Rosano and in an area of Rome to members of the middle class who also take courses. These were not the underprivileged or people with a low level of education. The first thing I can say is that the results are not very different. The answers on adult education given by different people are more or less the same. There are fears that personal histories are not taken enough into consideration, that previous knowledge of trainees is not taken enough into consideration. The facts and figures collected from various people in the first and second stage of the project on "signs and signals" show aspects which could be used as guidelines for the planning of training management for adults with educational problems. As far as the "causes" and the symptoms among individuals in relation to barriers and so on are concerned, the figures show a lack of basic requirements, a lack of ability to learn things, a lack of motivation leading to rigidity and more lack of motivation, lack of flexibility in planning, too much red tape, lack of co-operation with other institutions.

Then at the teaching level, the figures show that there are methodological problems. Competence and knowledge are very important for the learning process and poor methods are the main reason for learning problems. Cultural and social factors are very important causal factors socioculturally. Lack of resources i.e. lack of stimuli is also a limiting factor. Reactions to the learning difficulties show how important it is to recognise individual problems and to intervene on the side of the trainees, to build up confidence, be flexible in the planning of training and education, to reinforce co-operation between institutions, to set up networks and of course obtain political support. The main focus is of course on the individualisation of learning. I was in Valencia in Spain a week ago at a conference about audio-visual learning and cultures. Jean Claude Carrière and others from the film industry were there. The problem which was mentioned again and again was that is extremely difficult today to give advice on individualisation in a world in which 20% of people create audio-visual programmes for the other 80%. It is of course very difficult to carry out work in this field.

Finally I would like to refer to the recommendations formulated for us by Professor Avveduto, the Director of UNLA. What does Italy want? First and foremost we want to produce the equivalent of something between a secondary school certificate and a vocational certificate in other areas, in regions, in firms and organisations. Then we would ask for equal recognition of training certificates and thirdly for the recognition of special certificates which are issued by individual organisations. These certify particular qualifications and are important for continuing careers. We would like to have certificates in Italy which can be gained through particular experience. A flexible system like this would mean that more people – even those with little basic education – could have a chance of doing work which corresponds to their abilities. I would like to close with that. Thank you very much.