INFORMAL ADULT EDUCATION IN KEDAINIAI REGION: EXPLICIT LINKS BETWEEN CAREER AND EDUCATION, CAREER CHANGES

Due to rapid changes in the dynamics of trade market needs, learning and career as life-long processes have become the burning issues of modern society. Knowledge and skills acquired in comprehensive school, college or university cannot guarantee a strong position in the trade market. An important point is the latest information on the situation in different regions of Lithuania. In October - December 2008, a qualitative research was carried out. 29 respondents participated in the survey based on the structural interview providing a possibility of establishing the main conditions for informal adult education including available information, motivation for learning, evaluation in terms of usefulness and an aspect of career changes. Theoretical analysis puts emphasis on the links between informal adult education and career op-portunities. Informal education positively determines a further successful development of a personal career. Learning greatly expands the field of individual opportunities and choices and creates preconditions for making a decision on the development of a personal career. The carried out assessment of the situation on informal education in Kedainiai region disclosed that: • all establishments of informal education in Kedainiai region offer a possibility of and create the required conditions for taking part in the process of life-long learning; • a local database of adult education services (training courses, seminars etc.) and organized pro-grammes provided by different institutions has been established; • the problem of financial support (lack and inadequacy of resources necessary to accomplish the mission established by the institutions of informal education) has been noticed. Obvious positive career changes of the learners who attended the institutions of adult informal edu-cation in Kedainiai region have been established. The majority of the surveyed participants found personal career changes successful and effective. An assessment of positions (opinions and evaluations) taken by the learners reveals that along the factors having impact on motivation such as aspirations, quality-based orientation and intentions of learning, other factors increasing students' motivation for learning exist: • wish for conforming to constantly changing situation; • intention to remain competitive in the labour market; • wish for having means of support; • doubtful future possibilities. An analysis of employer's positions (opinions and evaluations) indicates a positive attitude towards informal employees' education. In seems to be clear that the prestige of informal adult education is in-creasing and the importance of understanding this phenomenon is gaining more weight in society. An assessment of the executives (opinions and evaluations) of the organizations arranging the sessions of informal teaching discloses that informal learning helps with increasing personal and professional competencies, offers the possibility of self-realization, assists in retaining work places, determines the rise of new professional competencies and ensures successful changes in personal careers.