EIP 03/13
Executive Summary
The lifelong learning policy agenda has four distinguishing features:
- The recognition of both informal and formal learning;
- The importance of self-motivated learning;
- An emphasis on self-funded learning; and
- The idea that participation in learning should be universal (Section 1.1).
The lifelong learning policy agenda is built on assumptions about the importance of skills in the new economy. Almost all industrial sectors are increasingly ‘knowledge-based’ and economic returns are obtained from a range of ‘intangible’ inputs, one of which is workers’ skills. Participation in education and training is increasing and economic rewards are flowing to people with high skills (Section 2.1).
The Australian economy appears to fit the paradigm of the ‘knowledge-based economy’ as defined by the OECD. Australia has experienced growth in industry sectors that are relatively intense in their use of technology or human capital as well as growth in demand for highly skilled workers (Section 2.2).
The Australian education and training system appears well-placed to meet the demand for high skills in the new economy. High-skilled, full-time jobs in Australia are growing fast in aggregate terms (Section 3.1). These jobs are concentrated in fast-growing industries identified with the ‘knowledge-based economy’ (Section 3.2). Australia has high levels of adult participation in both informal and formal education and training. Participation is highest among wage and salary earners, and an increasing amount of work-related external training is financed by individuals rather than employers (Section 3.3). These trends are consistent with the lifelong learning policy agenda that emphasises self-funded, self-motivated participation in both formal and informal learning.
Although overall levels of participation in education and training in Australia are high, there is a widening gap between the participation rates of people with high skills and people with low skills. Australia has experienced strong growth in both high skilled and low skilled employment. As might be expected from the nature of their employment, workers in low skilled jobs receive fewer opportunities and less employer support for participation in training than workers in high skilled jobs. This restricts their opportunities for upward mobility (Section 4.1).
People with low skills face additional disincentives to participation in education and training, particularly if they are unemployed. The people most likely to participate in adult education and training are those who have completed Year 12. People with low skills and the unemployed are less likely to have completed Year 12. Education and training courses undertaken by people who are unemployed are less likely to improve their employment prospects than courses taken by people who were employed previously. Inadequate credit transfer arrangements pose an additional barrier for people who enter university from vocational education courses rather than Year 12 (Section 4.2).
Australia’s capacity to achieve higher levels of educational participation may be undermined by the widening socio-economic gap between individuals in highly paid/high-skilled jobs and people in low paid/low-skilled work. As it presently stands, the emphasis the lifelong learning policy agenda places on individuals’ co-financing of their own learning contradicts its stress on lifelong learning as a remedy for social exclusion. Given the many factors inhibiting participation in education and training for less-skilled individuals in low-wage jobs, governments could play a greater role in breaking the nexus between low skills and non-participation.
To date, Australia has successfully met the education and training needs of the new economy. Government policies should ensure that Australia’s education and training system is sufficiently flexible and responsive to meet future demand for skills, including the need for skills upgrading for those with low or obsolescent skills. (Section 5.1).
Areas of interest to policy-makers in this context include:
- The maintenance of course quality;
- The accessibility of finance for post-secondary education and training;
- The predictability, consistency and transparency of credit transfer and recognition of prior learning procedures;
- The effectiveness of different courses of education and training in improving the employment outcomes of people who are unemployed;
- The utility of incentives for education and training participation for those most likely to suffer educational and labour market disadvantage in the new economy (section 5).
Full Report (381.37 KB) PDF