Education and Training Projects ICT in Adult Education ICT in Adult Education
The New Opportunities Programme (site in Portuguese), launched in December 2005 to provide an ample opportunity of education to adults and youth who had left school without completing secondary education and having involved 1.1 students, included the systematic training in ICT skills and facilitated acquisition of laptop computers.
The goals of New Opportunities Programme (site in Portuguese) include assuring education and Recognition, Validation and Certification of Competencies in a proximity network of more than 450 training centers (as of March 2010) in the different regions of the country (181 in the North, 110 in the Center, 87 in the Lisbon region, 50 in Alentejo, 20 in Algarve, 6 in Madeira), and located in a wide range of institution types: schools (55%), vocational training centers (19%), local development associations (6%), business associations (6%), enterprises (4%), municipalities, businesses and municipal associations (3%), social solidarity organization (3%), higher education institutions (2% ).
Students enrolled in this program since its beginning had a distribution by age cohorts as follows: 31% 35-44 years old, 30% 25-34 years old, 20% 45-54 years old, 14% 18-24 years old, 5% 55-64 years old. Success in training was markedly higher in the cohorts over 35 years old and similar in all of them. Of the enrolled students, 62% were employed, and it was this group that turned out to be the most scholarly successful (almost twice than that of unemployed people).
In June 2007, the Government launched the e.oportunidades Programme (site in Portuguese), to facilitate the purchase of laptop computers with mobile broadband connections to the Internet by adults enrolled in the New Opportunities Programme (site in Portuguese).
At the end of July 2009, about 378,400 laptops had been distributed within the e.oportunidades Programme.
Since its inception in 2006/2007 until 2009/2010, more than 1.1 million students enrolled at the New Opportunities Program and more than 371,000 of them obtained successful school certification. Even, some 25,000 youngsters completed their compulsory education (9 years) under this Programmme in 2007 and 2008.