Barbara Merrill / Stephen Hill Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning ( APEL )

Lifelong learning and social inclusion policies are now high on the policy agendas of both the European Union and national states in Europe. The push for such policies arises from changes in the labour market and economy and globalisation in postindustrial society. Skills have to be constantly updated and new ones acquired. In the post-Fordist era people can expect to have a series of jobs perhaps interspersed by periods of short-term contracts or unemployment. In the information society the acquisition of knowledge is essential. Both the European Commission (EC) and national European governments view education as the key to economic success. The Commission’s White Paper, 1995, and more recently, the Memorandum on Lifelong Learning, 2001, stress the necessity for accepting new skills and knowledge within education. Integrating work and education is viewed by governments and industrialists as essential: “Work procedures and work itself are facing restructuring ... The contents and ... structures of jobs are changing. Ever higher competence is expected in all occupations ... more and more individuals are being confronted with the stark reality that their education, completed decades ago, no longer gives them the competence they need ...” (The Round Table of European Industrialists, ERT 1989, p 170).