OECD - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

The mission of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is to promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) provides a forum in which governments can work together to share experiences and seek solutions to common problems. The OECD works with governments to understand what drives economic, social and environmental change. The OECD measures productivity and global flows of trade and investment. The OECD analyses and compares data to predict future trends. The OECD set international standards on a wide range of things, from agriculture and tax to the validation of non formal learning.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) analysis of non formal learning is the following:

People are constantly learning everywhere and at all times. Not a single day goes by that does not lead to additional skills, knowledge and/or competences for all individuals. For people outside the initial education and training system, adults in particular, it is very likely that this learning, taking place at home, at the workplace or elsewhere, is a lot more important, relevant and significant than the kind of learning that occurs in formal settings.

However, learning that occurs outside the formal learning system is not well understood, made visible or, probably as a consequence, appropriately valued. The OECD activity on the recognition of non-formal and informal learning involves 23 countries on 5 continents. Non formal learning has also been under-researched (see also ongoing EU work). Most research has focused on learning outcomes from formal education and training, instead of embracing all types of learning outcomes; allowing visibility and portability of such outcomes in the lifelong learning system, in the labor market or in the community.

In 1996, the OECD education ministers agreed to develop strategies for “lifelong learning for all”. The approach has been endorsed by ministers of labor, ministers of social affairs and the OECD Council at ministerial level. There are some individuals who are unable to put all the learning they have acquired to full use because they are cannot easily prove their capabilities to others. Non-formal and informal learning outcomes are viewed as having significant value. Policy makers in OECD countries have become increasingly aware that non formal learning represents a rich source of human capital.

Recognition plays an important role in a number of countries by providing validation of competences to facilitate entry to further formal learning. This often involves exemption from certain coursework or parts of a formal study program. This approach lets people complete education more quickly, efficiently and cheaply by not having to enroll in courses for which they have already mastered the content. Allowing people to fast-track through formal education by making the most of their non formal and informal learning can also create a virtuous circle by making it more attractive for people to engage in self-directed learning.

Bircham International University was created considering the conclusions of the OCDE about the value and impact of non formal learning to reinforce human capital.

Bircham International University is legalized in Spain and the USA, two of the 20 countries that constitute the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.