University is no longer just for young people: 60% of adults will have to return to the classroom

The demographic crisis and the change in the typology of jobs due to digitization are forcing the university to change its structure. In the next three decades, the percentage of people between the ages of 18 and 29 will drop by 20% due to the drop in the birth rate. Now, 95% of university students are that age. Less than 5% of undergraduate students and less than 20% of master's students at face-to-face public universities are over 30 years old. The EU objective is that, by 2030, 60% of the population between the ages of 25 and 64 have had some type of training experience. That means adults will have to go back to the classroom, albeit virtual, and get out their notebooks and pens whether they want to find a job or keep it.

The new formations, yes, will be flexible and shorter than a degree, far from the “rigid” structure of the degree and postgraduate, as explained yesterday by the Minister of Universities, Joan Subirats, during the presentation in Malaga of the Action Plan for the Development of University Microcredentials in Spain:

What are they?

Micro-credentials are something like mini-degrees that are awarded after short courses of a minimum of one credit and a maximum of 25. That is, between one week and four months of training. Many are in digital or hybrid format and are aimed at students who, according to Subirats, “has been little present in Spanish universities”. «This is the population between 25 and 64 years old, regardless of whether they meet the requirements to enter the university. They are people who did not enter in their day because they went to work and now they opt for these courses, “said the minister.. In other words, universities will admit students even without a baccalaureate degree.. “They will be able to be accredited for their professional career,” explained Subirats, who stressed that the underlying idea is “to open the university to all ages.”

'Upskilling' and 'reskilling'

The EU has asked Spain to reinforce its training strategy throughout life, the so-called longlife learning. Before, what a person studied at the university was useful for their whole life, but the structural changes in jobs, and the uncertainty regarding which ones will be needed in the coming years, are causing “deficiencies in certain training courses”, in the words of Subirats. This issue is one of the best things about the new Organic Law of the University System (Losu), approved last March and still pending development.

The microcredentials will be used for upskilling (teaching a worker new skills to improve their performance) and for reskilling (training a professional to adapt to a new position).. They can be stacked and accumulated, in such a way that the student can get a higher degree accreditation, equivalent to a university degree or a master's degree, without having to go to the current university entrance exams for people over 35, 40 or 45 years.

with companies

One of the characteristics of micro-credentials is that they are courses “in sectors and strategic activities in which there is a shortage of qualified personnel or professional retraining needs”. Subirats has designed his plan counting on the rectors, but also with the employers, the chambers of commerce and the Economic and Social Council (CES), something that is not usual since in the public university the company has traditionally been viewed with suspicion. According to Subirats, “it is essential that this co-production process between the universities and representatives of the company take place, that they respond to social demands, not only to the offer made by the university.”

“We have to do it not thinking about what universities can offer, but thinking about what society needs,” stressed Eva Alcón, president of the Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities (Crue) and rector of the Jaume I University of Castellón. .

60,000 students

The micro-credentials plan proposes 41 actions. The first of these is the creation of a “seed capital” of 50 million euros from European funds that will be distributed at the end of the summer among the autonomous communities. To establish the amounts, the number of people between 25 and 64 years of age has been taken into account.. The regional governments will give that money to public universities so that, between January 1, 2024 and June 30, 2026, they develop pilot plans for micro-credentials.. The “minimum commitment” is that this money will serve to train 60,000 people in these two years and generate 1,000 training courses.

Regularize to ''without papers'

New scholarships will also be created for the unemployed or people in social vulnerability. The plan sets an example for refugees. According to Subirats, micro-credentials “can be used for people to legalize their situation in Spain.”

In this sense, the Minister of Inclusion, José Luis Escrivá, issued some instructions a few days ago that develop the new figure of roots by training, by which immigrants in an irregular situation who have been in Spain for two years may have a residence permit through through these courses. A minimum of hours is no longer required (initially 200 were requested) and they do not have to be face-to-face, to favor women with small dependent children. This training can be completed through micro-credentials and allows you to live in Spain on a regular basis for at least 12 months, extendable if the training lasts longer or not everything is approved within this period.

“They are an instrument to prevent a part of the population from finding it difficult to understand and keep up with technological change,” stresses the Ministry.

The teachers

The Government plans to create a digital platform that serves as a one-stop shop where all university micro-credentials can be consulted and allows access to enrollment “immediately”. In addition, university professors will have to be “retrained” to provide them with the tools to train adults and professionals with work experience.