Good practice: Lifelong Learning Centers (KeDiVim)

Another initiative of the Youth and Life Long Learning Foundation (Ministry of Education) that is open to anyone with particular emphasis on vulnerable & marginalised groups such as dropouts, Roma, offenders, immigrants, people with disabilities and religious minorities. Lifelong Learning Centers are operating since 2010 with the aim of promoting the upgrading of environment, digital, literacy, civic, financial, Personal & Interpersonal capabilities among the above mentioned groups. 

Lifelong Learning Centres (Greek Κ. .Β.Μ.) in Greece are established and function in municipalities upon request, implementing educational programmes of General Adult Education, as well as activities at the National and Local Level. Centres are available to all adults, unemployed and employed, irrespective of gender, educational level, country of origin, religion, place of residence, young people, students, etc., with only the desire for knowledge and active participation.

The program aims at promoting a positive attitude to learning, ensure equal access to education, using leisure time in a creative way, enhancing access to the labour market and finally, to integrate or re-integrate into the education process any adult who for any reason has not completed the compulsory education cycle. The independent learning classes for socially vulnerable groups (Roma, prisoners, migrants-repatriated immigrants, people with disabilities, Muslim minority) promote their equal integration into the contemporary society.

A repository of learning material in each of the disciplines that boosts social activation, active involvement, put on practice (project-based learning) and self-learning (via educational material provided with activities, scenarios, etc., available online). Regarding this way of sharing information, a problem-posing approach is being activated.

The substantive differentiation of KeDiViM is that the Municipality has the ability to decide on and organise the educational and training programs that it wishes to implement in its region. This enables the process of selecting educational programs to be reversed, as it is possible to first investigate the educational needs of citizens and then ‘translate’ the needs into learning programs.