TU Delft highlights the wide range of Lifelong Learning options
Building a better society is the mission of the university in the context of Science, Engineering and Design. That’s what TU Delft stands for. More attention to Lifelong Learning (LLL) fits within this ambition and involves providing high-quality, accessible education to professionals.
Rob Mudde, Vice-Rector Magnificus/Vice President Education: ‘At TU Delft, we want to contribute to solving global challenges by educating new generations of socially involved engineers. This means continuing to provide knowledge and expertise even after obtaining a diploma. We want to support not only our alumni, but all professionals in their careers and have a positive impact on their lives, communities and organisations.’
Defining the preconditions is essential
TU Delft draws attention to the preconditions for improving LLL. Collaboration between the public and private sectors is essential, as highlighted in the recently published position paper of the Universities of the Netherlands (UNL), of which TU Delft is a co-signatory. Post-initial education should become a legally recognised and funded task for universities, with the importance of LLL thereby recognised by the government. This allows universities to respond to the major joint LLL task that the Netherlands has in upskilling and retraining the workforce. TU Delft’s recently approved LLL strategy aligns with the UNL’s position and emphasises the importance of LLL in tackling important social issues and addressing a rapidly changing labour market. In this strategy, TU Delft has already chosen to consider LLL as the university’s core educational task.
Wide range of options
According to Willem van Valkenburg, director of the TU Delft Extension School for Continuing Education, TU Delft is well positioned to implement the LLL strategy, building on the university’s experience in open and online education. The university offers a variety of training formats, from on-campus to blended and online courses, including more than 200 Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and nearly 100 online professional education programmes. TU Delft wants to further expand the LLL range in the coming years, focusing on societal challenges and key technologies.