Portugal’s New Opportunities Initiative (NOI) has made a real difference to real people’s lives

Over 1 million people have enrolled on one of the largest Portuguese governmental programmes in recent decades to recognise and accredit prior learning and to upgrade adults’ low skill levels to secondary-level qualifications.

Why have so many participated? It is mainly because NOI was designed to fit people’s needs, lifestyles and life rhythms. It gave people a sense that their experience matters, and demonstrated what would be the clear benefits of participating – a major improvement in basic skills, and a bridge to formal learning and jobs.

The benefits of replicating this experience in other European countries such as Poland and Greece, as well as the now uncertain future of the NOI following the election of a new Portuguese government, were the main discussion points at the International Seminar on Innovation in Public Policy organised by UIL, CEPCEP, Universidade Catolica Portuguesa and MENON Network, in Brussels on 15 November.

Independent research conducted on NOI was published in the book Accreditation of Prior Learning as a Lever for Lifelong Learning: Lessons learnt from the New Opportunities Initiative, Portugal. The research formed the background for the seminar discussions.

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