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Tags: lifelong learning education

A financial and economic crisis hardly creates a favourable environment for investment in education, which had already suffered a set-back in many European countries affected by budget deficits.

The World Forum on Education which took place for the first time in Paris on 28 to 29 October, highlighted the paradox between an increased need for education and weak investment.

"We are currently in a financial crisis period which will not help many government and non-government actions", said Barbara Ischinger, director of the OECD, on introducing the work to be undertaken at the first World Forum on Lifelong Learning on 29 October in Paris. This event, the first of its kind, had the aim of investigating education and training systems, although the logic behind them is at the heart of inter-continental debate.

Nevertheless, "we can find just as many material as immaterial economic advantages in education", as Nicholas Burnett, Deputy Director General of UNESCO for education, has pointed out, adding that "it is important to emphasise the role of education and its contribution towards economic development and sustainable development".

Although, our globalised and inter-dependent world creates inequalities: "gaps have widened and with the economic changes, the risk of being excluded is increased, which is why education is so important when looking for jobs", he warned.

In the current climate, the risk is that governments will have to make decisions: "to cut education budgets is to gamble on the future of the people ... we must continue to promote training in order to avoid marginalising people", Nicholas Burnett conceded.

Only education can help to narrow these gaps: "education is not a luxury", he continued, "a country cannot be competitive without it. The consequence is that we need an education policy for all and accessible to all". He also expressed the need to "evolve towards more open and flexible systems". National policies certainly need to respond to the needs of the nation, but also to global challenges. This flexibility should allow an adult to change their life through continued education: "it is a second chance which should not be an opportunity lost", he believes, concluding that "lifelong learning should encourage formal, non-formal and informal training on all levels".