Lifelong learning and the South: A perspective arising from an experts'' meeting in Asia

Lifelong learning (LLL) is a powerful concept for transforming educational systems and enabling learning societies. Developed in the advanced industrialized North, it is now being considered in poor countries where Education for All (EFA) is a main educational preoccupation. The meaning of LLL is confused and contested, caught up in neo-liberal policies and ideologies, and prone to being reduced from a transformative vision to a set of skill training strategies. If the concept is to serve “the South” in reducing poverty and inequality by mobilizing community and non-governmental efforts for learning by and for all, it is important not to lose its wider meaning. This short perspective reflects on discourse at a recent international experts’ meeting in Tokyo.