people and planet

12
operations, critical thinking and problem solving.
Assessments are designed to measure either generic
skills or those that reflect a body of knowledge within
a given field.
Few countries deliver national assessments of student
cognitive skills. Brazil initiated the Exame Nacional
de Desempenho dos Estudantes (ENADE) through
legislation in 1996 and has administered it nationally
since 2004. About 80% of students in public and private
institutions take the exam as they enter and exit
bachelor studies. Results across 19 fields of study show
that students display more improvement in subjectspecific
areas than in the general knowledge component
of the test (Melguizo and Wainer, 2015).
These findings suggest that the curriculum significantly
influences learning, since the general skills portion
of the test is not aligned with the curricula of the
study programmes. Another reason for the difference
is the knowledge level associated with generic skills
assessment. For example, students in medicine show
almost no general skills gains over four years but
substantial content area gains, most likely because they
enter university with high general academic abilities.
Cross-national comparisons of higher education learning
outcomes have also been attempted. OECD completed
a feasibility study on Assessment of Higher Education
Learning Outcomes (AHELO) in 2013 with participation
from 17 countries and jurisdictions. China, Finland and
Norway supported a full assessment, but the project met
with resistance from governments or higher education
leaders in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United
States (Morgan, 2015).
A project called Measuring and Comparing Achievements
of Learning Outcomes in Higher Education in Europe
(CALOHEE) was launched in 2015. Results from the first
round of assessments are expected in 2017. The intent
is to assess whether students across the European
Higher Education Area are achieving competencies that
match internationally defined standards. CALOHEE is
a bottom-up, university-driven process, while ENADE
and AHELO were driven by governments oriented
towards accountability.
Some critics have questioned whether tertiary education
learning assessments in general are measuring what they
claim to measure (Primi et al., 2010; 2011). Universities
also question their purpose. Assessments of student
outcomes have largely been developed to promote
accountability and are designed by external bodies –
government agencies, private testing companies and
non-profit groups (Nusche, 2008). Critics note the
absence of faculty in design and implementation, a
crucial weakness considering that tertiary faculty have
a relatively high degree of autonomy as stewards of
academic content (Possin, 2013).
The methodological limitations and costs of student
outcome assessments are cause for reflection.
Differences in national policy structures and resources,
and in university missions in the education system, pose
considerable barriers to a meaningful global measure of
quality in tertiary education.
ADULT EDUCATION
While SDG 4 calls for ensuring lifelong learning
opportunities for all, none of the education targets
explicitly mentions adult education. However, the
proposed global indicator for target 4.3 incorporates
the concept of adult education, and adult learning,
education and training
opportunities form a
While SDG 4 calls
strategy for achieving
target 4.3, according
for ensuring lifelong
to the Education 2030
learning opportunities
Framework for Action.
for all, none of the
The three modes of
education targets
adult education are
explicitly mentions
formal, non-formal
adult education
and informal. Formal
education refers mostly
to initial education that
is ‘institutionalized, intentional and planned through
public organizations and recognized private bodies’ and
‘recognized as such by the relevant national education or
equivalent authorities’ (UIS, 2012b).
Non-formal education is ‘any organized, systematic,
educational activity, carried on outside the framework
of the formal system, to provide selected types of learning’.
It takes distinct forms, including lectures, seminars and
workshops with established learning objectives and
content, tutoring and private lessons, on-the-job training,
and open and distance learning. While the dominant reason
236
CHAPTER 12 | TARGET 4.3 – TECHNICAL, VOCATIONAL, TERTIARY AND ADULT EDUCATION