Learning is fundamental for humans of all ages

     

In the twenty-first centuries, the people of Thailand, in common with many others, face a bewildering mixture of uncertainty, risk and insecurity. Global forces are exerting enormous and growing influences over their everyday lives, businesses and aspirations.

Increased global competition on the liberalized markets have caused whole industries to shrink or expand, shifting the demand for skills and the availability of job opportunities for particular communities and whole nations. Man needs to confront social and environment changes all the time. The importance of Education comes to the fore when lives have to shift away from the way they used to be.

Opportunities for unskilled and semiskilled employment are diminishing, and those with only industrial or specific task skills are increasingly at risk. There is the continuing threat of redundancy and the bitter experience of unemployment.

Following the economic crisis, intellectual chaos caused by the chronic education failure occurred in addition to the economic impact. In Thailand, the changes happened so suddenly and became too complex to deal with. Combating the various problems was not possible with only faded qualifications collected during school years. The learning achieved during school years is an introductory part of our learning life which also provides a basis for further resources because life after school occupies the longest span of our lives.

The culture of lifelong learning for all needs to be reinforced because it opens up many more avenues and opportunities for members of society. Changes in the whole approach to achievement and its measurement, even the very language and vocabularies used to describe learning opportunities must be undergone, Above all, contributions to lifelong learning from all are needed, in which learning enables people and organizations to cope with far-reaching transformations and turn them to their advantage. Additionally, lifelong learning lends its support to innovative community projects and creative examples of community development.

A variety of countries are aware of the importance and necessity of lifelong learning. It was of great value when the world underwent drastic changes and fluctuations affected the human ways of living directly and indirectly. The borderless effects put vast impact on private and working lives. In most countries, lifelong learning was therefore encouraged as a coping strategy and wisdom hunger as a tactic.

Lifelong learning is an integrated scope of education, which covers the formal, non-formal and informal (education according to one's preference) education, since it is education from birth to death. In each age range, one should acquire an education of any type of blend. Education correlates with ways of living; living factors; social and economic status and religious and political environments. However, lifelong learning's purposes include the development of the human personality, intellectual and other skills; to enhance the living experience and to fulfil vocational and social ambitions which are aimed at certain goals in certain ages.

Associate Professor Sumalee Sungsri, Faculty of Education, Sukhothai Thammatirat University, researched lifelong learning in the 21st century. Data was gathered from cases in various countries: USA, Canada, UK, Australia and South Korea in order to raise lifelong learning concepts in Thailand. The research found that in each particular country, considerable efforts were made towards lifelong learning among the people, including legislation and a clear policy. Relevant agencies were established and decentralization and empowerment were lent to local administrations. Services, information support for people interested and other concerned groups, were offered. Technological structure was strengthened. Many premises were developed to serve purposes in the community. Most emphasis was given to participation by all sectors of society in which the home is deemed a core agent, while the workplace is regarded as a resource provider that makes lifelong learning possible, especially for the working class. Measures and campaigns were thought up to promote lifelong learning involvement, particularly for under-represented groups, including financial initiatives such as education coupons and tax waivers.

In Thailand, lifelong learning was first recognized in 1977 under the National Education Scheme B.E. 2520. Lifelong learning was first referred to as educational objectives stipulating that education is a continuous lifelong process. Evening schools for adults were transformed as Non-Formal Education Centers to provide education for people of all ages. Similarly, the Education Act B.E. 2542 promotes lifelong learning as a master frame of the national education endowment prescribed in section 8. The principles being that people should be able to lean throughout their lives. The Act not only allows much community participation in providing education, it also develops contents and learning processes in order to conveniently accommodate continuous learning.

Nevertheless, lifelong learning in Thailand in the past concerning formal, non-formal and informal education, encountered major obstacles such as - education opportunity was not allocated equally; the present education system does not aid under-represented groups; the content was not practical in real life; education was teacher-centered rather than student-centered; analytical minds were not encouraged, nor creative learning. Students were unable to solve problems and lacked self-study motivation; transfer of educational credits was limited, in fact not possible; people were negligent concerning lifelong learning as well as lacking motivation and support systems; the community received insufficient participation on lifelong learning activities due to the misconception that education was only provided in schools.

With the advent of the Education Act B.E. 2542, a new episode of the Thai education system is dawning. The lifelong learning culture for all is portrayed as educational integrity, which is classified into formal, non-formal and informal education. In the long run, the lifelong learning culture for all will enable Thais to exercise their potential and be flexible, while prompting their wisdom hunger and instilling them with an alertness to ongoing changes. The necessity for lifelong learning has already arrived, but as stated clearly in the Act, it will not progress, unless the many obstacles are eradicated from the top-down. Without a government mandate and support from all stakeholders: public and private employers, community administrators, institutions, family members and each individual, the lifelong learning process will never be pursued.

THE NATION: Wednesday 21st, June 2000