I Why is it urgent to discuss lifelong learning?
I will start with a brief analysis of the needs for addressing lifelong learning issues. My discussion begins with three observations.

First of all, globalization has taken place in most developing and developed countries. It makes the knowledge supply cross country boundaries and the production of skilled labor a shared responsibility of all nations. Global competitiveness replaces basic literacy as the foundation of individual development and economic growth. However, globalization must have a 'humane face', a consideration for the standard of living of the general public. Attention to social welfare and global competitiveness sets the stage for the development of a harmonious world where people learn throughout their lives.

Secondly, knowledge-based economy is growing at an unprecedented pace. This fundamental change in economic structure creates a huge demand for highly skilled workers. The defining character of this knowledge-based society is its demand for people at various skill levels. In other word, all citizens must participate in lifelong learning activities, both skilled and unskilled labor. This is largely due to the fact that knowledge depreciates over time. Even academic degrees may have an 'expiration date' because of knowledge depreciation and technological innovation. These factors make continuous learning a new social norm in a knowledge-based society.

Thirdly, the induction of lifelong learning program comes with the initiation of inclusive education in many countries. Lifelong learning and inclusive education act as two legs of a human being. The former pushes individuals to take part in extended education programs, while the latter pulls disadvantaged groups into these learning activities. This push-and-pull mechanism drives us into a learning society.

In essence, today's society has changed from 'lifelong education' which is a supply-driven approach, to 'lifelong learning' which is mainly a demand-driven approach. During this process, an ample public supply of lifelong learning opportunities guarantees equity and social cohesion in education. In the meantime, the inclusive education strategy ensures efficient offerings of lifelong learning choices for those who are excluded from the formal education system, such as immigrant workers, displaced workers, and disadvantaged groups with training needs.

Nevertheless, integrating lifelong learning and inclusive education is not a unique phenomenon in China. Many European countries also face severe challenges caused by the new waves of immigration. Adding inclusive education to lifelong learning policy frameworks in these countries means that public authorities should open their educational opportunities to new immigrants and their families.

Because of the emergence of globalization, knowledge economy, and the integration of lifelong learning and inclusive education, we are moving into a new era; that of the learning society. However, these conditions are not sufficient for the realization of lifelong learning, which is fundamentally driven by job needs and a desire for a better life now.

In past decades, technological changes have brought about globalization, while globalization accelerates technical innovation. As a result, the cycle of technology upgrades becomes shorter and shorter. The life expectancy for enterprises and industries is also shortened. Therefore, for the first time in history, people now enter an age of much uncertainty. This uncertainty forces professionals and unskilled labors to deal with a continuous need for training and retraining. In other words, the 'once-fora- lifetime' learning model has become obsolete, and is being replaced by a 'learning-throughout-the-life-time' model. To keep a job, one has to participate in formal and informal training from time to time. A degree or diploma is no longer a guarantee for lifelong employment and a stable income.

Hence, our society has gradually moved from a system of national citizen education where learning is largely constrained to formal education in school settings, to a new system of lifelong learning where learning is open to all and can appear in any settings in terms of formal or informal schooling. When a lifelong learning approach replaces the so called 'national citizen education' strategy, it is natural to extend the coverage of learning opportunity to the formerly excluded communities. This practice will bring equity, social cohesion and freedom of choice back to our education system.

II. Chinese practice and issues
Although our country has made significant achievements over time, I would like to share with you some dilemmas facing Chinese education. China is a developing country in the process of industrialization and post-industrialization, a nation with a relatively fast economic growth and a limited government budget for education.

After 30 years of effort, China has reached universal compulsory education. The challenge now is to consolidate this Education for All achievement, and to promote educational attainment for minorities and other disadvantaged groups.

At the tertiary level, the college gross enrollment rate indicates that China has reached the mass education stage. The core issues for higher education are to maintain and improve educational quality and encourage innovation.

The 17th Party Congress in 2007 identified vocational education and training as a priority for its national development. Since then, the Chinese government has issued many policies to build the capacity of vocational education institutions, and to provide financial support for students enrolled in these institutions.

Given the fact that China has only recently achieved its universal basic education and mass education stage at the tertiary level, some have suggested that the top priority for the Chinese government in the near future should be to strengthen its compulsory and postsecondary education sectors, instead of identifying a new focus on lifelong learning. In other words, China is still anticipating a Lifelong Learning Act, to guide the development of a national lifelong learning strategy as well as to solve specific problems in the implementation and evaluation of such a strategy. In this respect, Chinese scholars and policy-makers are particularly interested in learning from their Asian and European counterparts.

III. Framework for supporting lifelong learning – Five policy options
So what should China do in order to provide a framework to support lifelong learning? I would like to share my personal perspective on this issue. I believe future policy making should consider the following options.

First, to increase the general public's awareness of lifelong learning. It is essential to mobilize all members of society to engage in efforts related to lifelong learning. As mentioned earlier, governments at various levels should play a major role in this mobilization process. To lead social reform, a government should have a vision for lifelong learning by: making education a priority on its agenda, by treating human capital as its key resource in the twenty-first century, and by understanding the general development in society. In addition, a government should have the political will to take initiatives in the field of lifelong learning. Finally, a government should ensure consensus among all stakeholders, in support of the construction of a learning society in which everyone has access to educational opportunities.

The second direction is to make a comprehensive master plan for education. The master plan should integrate all levels of education into a unity and infuse the concept of lifelong learning into every segment of the existing school system. The integration should proceed in a seamless manner, rather than as a parallel-system approach where lifelong learning becomes a stand-alone rival to the formal school system. This is exactly what I meant by merging lifelong learning with inclusive education, that is, to have a master plan which uses lifelong learning to reshuffle existing educational resources in order to reach every corner of our educational system.

Thirdly, the future policy should also address legal support for lifelong learning. The focus should not only include the legislation for lifelong learning, but also the implementation and the enforcement of laws for lifelong learning.

A harmonious society pays attention to education equity and access. Its foundation is a learning society. In essence, lifelong learning and inclusive education are two pillars for the construction of a learning society. In this sense, lifelong learning in conjunction with inclusive education is the building blocks of a harmonious society. Successful induction of such policies relies heavily on the underlying legal support.

Specifically, legislation can create the push-and-pull mechanism for the adoption of lifelong learning initiatives and policies. It may include standards for formal and informal education, accreditation criteria for certification, and evaluation standards for learning outcomes. Most importantly, legislation must be very specific about financial support for lifelong learning, including source of funding, responsibility of various stakeholders, and mechanisms for distribution and resource allocation. Finally, no law can be successful without powerful enforcement. To guarantee lifelong learning opportunities for all, more favorable law enforcement mechanisms have to be developed accordingly.

Another important area in support of lifelong learning is finance. Although it is desirable to mobilize all social resources, currently government should act as the major provider of learning opportunity. Other stakeholders in society should share the government's burden in various ways, including tax, educational levy and donation.

Specifically, fiscal and tax policies should be put in place to create incentives for social investment in lifelong learning. For instance, educational income tax deduction or exemption in U.S. is a good case in point. By allowing tax deduction or exemption for individual educational investment and corporate educational donation, the government encourages civic participation in sharing the costs for lifelong learning. The cost-sharing can be justified by its positive externalities, such as human capital accumulation, increased productivity and employability, and enhanced health and standards of living.

But does society have enough resources for lifelong learning? From my observation, tax policies can direct social consumption in more productive directions and thereby increase the resources available for lifelong learning. For instance, there is a lot of inappropriate consumption in our society, such as cooperates' expenditures for luxury goods or individual overconsumption of status symbols. These are total waste of social resources and these resources should be transferred to the educational sector.

Another possibility is to mobilize idle social resources. For instance, Confucius temples around the country can be used a center for lifelong learning or community activities. Many marginalized groups can communicate with each other and participate in literacy programs or vocational trainings on these sites.

Last but not least, I would like to address the importance of bringing incentives, motivations and social recognitions to lifelong learning activities.

Lifelong learning initiatives can bridge the degree and certificate program as well as formal and informal trainings. It can serve as a 'highway intersection' in a society. One the one hand, by encouraging 'transfers' between formal and informal educational institutions with portable credits, lifelong learning programs can provide access to different learning systems. For instance, graduates from vocational high schools should have access to fouryear institutions while college graduates should be able to enroll in community colleges for vocational training.

On the other hand, in a more open and flexible learning society, we could expect to see lifelong learning activities transform the rigid occupational status to a more flexible one, by bringing social recognition to jobs with low status but a great potential for continuous training or mobility. In other words, in the future, ones' socioeconomic status should not be determined by people's degrees or the academic pedigree of the educational institutions they have attended. Rather it should, to a large extent, be related to one's lifelong learning activity. By bringing incentives, motivations, and social recognition to lifelong learning programs, we can embrace the idea of 'lifelong learning for all and all for lifelong learning'.

By Mr. Zhang Xinsheng, Vice Minister, PRC Ministry of Education

Zhang Xinsheng
Vice-Minister, Ministry of Education, PRC.
Mr. Zhang Xinsheng graduated from Harvard University with a major in city planning. He held leading posts in the tourism industry, serving as deputy director of the National Tourism Administration until 1989. In 2001, he was appointed Vice Minister of the Ministry of Education. He was a vice-president of the Chinese Olympic Committee. 

"Because of the emergence of globalization, knowledge economy, and the integration of lifelong learning and inclusive education, we are moving into a new era; that of the learning society."

"In the future, ones' socioeconomic status should not be determined by people's degrees or the academic pedigree of the educational institutions they have attended. Rather it should, to a large extent, be related to one's lifelong learning activity."