Initial And Continuing Adult Education, A Requirement For Economic Growth

School dropout is a global problem because economic and social development can be achieved only if it is sustained by people with a solid education. Lately, many young people aged between 18-24 years end up choosing a university specialization without knowing clearly what their professional expectations are for the future. At the European and national level, measures are constantly being taken to prevent university dropout. Although the average number of students dropping out between 18-24 years from 2005 to 2019 show a tendency to decrease, we can still see the lack of trust from young people in educational programs. In 27 of the studied countries, the number of men leaving the university programmes is higher than that of women. The increasing presence of women in university programs is possible due to the opportunities to combine successfully, family, professional and university life. Efforts to encourage lifelong learning are significant, in addition to national institutions and the European Council, organizations such as the European Association for Adult Education; the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); International Education; the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) have joined forces with a well-defined agenda. The average number of adults participating in the learning process aged between 25-64 years in 28 European countries from 2005 to 2019 grow with 2.79%. The highest values are recorded in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and the United Kingdom because education for them is a landmark. Countries such as Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Slovakia and Croatia need to review their educational policies because the low values show a lack of trust in the system. The confidence of Austrian adults in the quality of university education is demonstrated by the high number of participants. With a rich educational history nowadays, Italy is struggling to engage adults in the educational process. Although 2019 has been beneficial for lifelong learning, we must not forget that it is an ongoing process. European countries want that in the XXI century adult education became an integral part of people’s lives.