"A critical feature of knowledge economies is that they don't stand still," says Berni Brady, the organisation's director. "The skills of their workforces must be constantly updated if they are to meet the challenges that lie ahead.
"This has clear implications for how a country's adult learning system is structured and funded. Yet the sector here is having to make do with fewer, rather than greater, resources."
The origins of Aontas go back to 1969, when a group of people involved in adult education came together to discuss the future of the sector. At the time, adult education was largely self-financing and on the margins of the mainstream educational system.
Aontas was established as the national body to represent its interests. It operated on a voluntary basis until the mid-1970s, when it began to receive government funding.
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Today, the organisation has 10 full-time employees and is funded through membership fees and state support of a little under €1m.
Aontas has about 500 group and 150 individual members. Its membership includes third-level colleges; community education groups; local area partnerships; and organisations such as Udaras na Gaeltachta and representatives from the vocational education committees and the area health boards.
"From the beginning, organisations such as the trade unions and what was then the Federated Union of Employers supported Aontas," says Brady, who has been its director since 1993. "In the early days, these groups were very active in encouraging employers to participate in adult education activities. A real breakthrough came in 1974, when PJ Carroll offered to support the organisation with a grant of about €19,000 for five years."
Aontas still receives some support from the corporate sector but surprisingly few employers make the connection between having a skilled and versatile workforce and the need for well-supported, regular education for adults, says Brady. "The EU has made the promotion of lifelong learning one of its key objectives," she says. "It sees it as a means of safeguarding Europe's competitiveness against new and emerging economies."
At one time, courses for adults were almost exclusively held in the evenings. This mitigated against those with family or work commitments at night. Day courses and the provision of on-site childcare have opened up significant educational opportunities for adults, especially women. "There are no precise figures for how many Irish adults are involved in lifelong learning but a conservative estimate is in excess of 300,000 people," says Brady.
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She rejects the suggestion that Aontas is just one more not-for-profit organisation whingeing about lack of funding. "There is a direct connection between what we and our members do and how well this country performs economically," she says. "We have already experienced one scramble for labour when the Celtic tiger was demanding more workers than this country could supply."
For many years, Aontas was involved directly in managing adult learning projects. It also provided information services to its members and to the general public.
"We tended to go where the wind took us," says Brady. "If there was funding available for a particular project, we went with it. During the 1990s, there was quite a lot of EU money available for initiatives such as the NOW [new opportunities for women] programme.
"This funding came to an end in 1998. Then we had to rely on getting our income from the government. At this point it became clear that the organisation was going to have to change."
Aontas brought in a consultant to help plot its future and a decision was taken to focus more on policy and less on service. "This was a significant shift and it didn't go down well with everybody," says Brady.
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Aontas now exists primarily to support its members and to promote the development of a learning society. It sees a comprehensive and inclusive adult learning system as central to this.
It attempts to meet its objectives through a number of activities including research, providing training for community education facilitators, representing adult learners on national forums and lobbying the government and other bodies on behalf of the sector. It also publishes policy and discussion documents on adult education and related topics.
Over the next three years, the organisation's main aim is to see the recommendations of the white paper for the development of the adult education service fully implemented.
In line with its change in emphasis, the organisation sought to make itself more professional. "The NGO [non-governmental organisation] sector is not renowned for having a professional approach to management," says Brady.
"We also began taking a more strategic approach to our work," she says. "We are now on our third strategic plan."
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Functions such as human resources, finance and marketing were put on a more formal footing and other changes were introduced, including the drawing up of job descriptions and contracts.
"We then allocated money to specific pieces of work that met strategic objectives. This allowed us to show exactly where we were spending our funding.
"We also set about raising the profile of the organisation in the media and with our stakeholders. We have become much more pro-active in promoting Aontas."
Brady also decided to develop her own management capabilities. She had come to Aontas from a background in community and voluntary education and her management skills had been learnt on the job. "I felt I needed to raise my game and in 2002 I joined the Irish Management Institute's executive development programme," she says. "It was geared towards the profit-making sector but it appealed to me because it was heavily focused on strategic management issues.
"Working for an NGO may not be as competitive as the private sector but it's not without its challenges. We too have to manage and motivate people."
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Brady is passionate about the need to encourage the practice of lifelong learning but frustrated by the lack of official commitment to the concept.
"We are constantly being told that this country needs skilled workers," she says. "This means putting resources behind all the groups working to develop individuals to a point where they can enter the workforce. Instead we are seeing a chipping away at the programmes designed to do this."
Brady cites cuts in the Community Employment scheme, a slowdown in the implementation of the Adult Education Guidance initiative and no increase in investment for adult education in the 2004 budget, as three recent examples of this.
"Adult education only really started growing significantly from 1997. It is disheartening to see these gains being eroded. It is now in danger of slipping off the political and social agenda," says Brady.
AONTAS'S CHALLENGES
To discuss these challenges and to offer your own advice, go to the Forum section of www.sunday-times.ie/enterprisenetwork