The presidential race has already begun with prominent candidates from rival parties scrambling to make their pledges to win people’s attention. Their pledges form a blueprint, albeit vague, for the country for the next five years. We are able to spot one common promise: a strong emphasis on helping people open a new, “third” chapter in life through lifelong education to ensure their happiness and breaking away from the current education system focused on university admission.

One powerful candidate from the ruling party pledged to “realize a society supporting lifelong education, where anyone can receive training and education anytime, anywhere in order to prepare for their second or third chapter in life in this new era of centenarians.” Another prominent candidate from the opposition party has promised to “achieve a complete overhaul of the current education system to set in place a lifelong education system instead of excessive learning aimed only at university entrance, which overburdens students and parents.”

It may be quite obvious for leading presidential candidates to show unequivocal support for lifelong learning; welfare has long replaced growth as a national policy paradigm. With education being the foundation of social welfare, education welfare policy has already been one of the most hotly debated issues in recent elections. Come to think of it, principal keywords in recent elections have been free school meals and halving tuition rates.

The move to revolutionize education must not stop here; education welfare policy should continue to evolve, and the ultimate destination of such evolution should naturally be “lifelong education.” The foremost objective of any welfare policy is to build a country of happy people. The fundamental idea behind lifelong learning is basically the same; that is, to improve the quality of peoples’ lives.

The Better Life Index recently announced by the OECD is a good example. Among 34 countries, Korea was among the countries with the lowest scores. The happiest country in the world was Denmark, followed by Australia, Norway, Austria and Iceland. These happiest countries in the world have one thing in common: lifelong education.

These countries not only are among the richest in the world but also have the highest lifelong education participation rate hovering around 50 to 70 percent. Lifelong education rates and GDP go hand in hand; considering that only around 30 percent of Koreans participate in lifelong learning and that we rank the lowest in happiness index, our imperative for the next five years seems crystal clear.

We are currently on a long and winding path toward becoming a leading country in education. I am confident that our enthusiasm towards lifelong education, which is as eager as the passionate cheering for Korean athletes competing at the London Olympic Games, will be Korea’s growth engine and future direction. It shouldn’t take OECD or UNESCO announcing that lifelong learning is the keyword of our time for us to realize that lifelong education clearly holds the key to our future.

So, how can we establish concrete tasks for people to engage in lifelong learning? How can we provide a solution for lifelong learning that will function as a bridge to open up a new chapter in peoples’ lives? Can we get work and learning to go hand in hand smoothly? These are only a few of the many challenges that lie ahead.

The most urgent task is to run a seamless national lifelong learning drive system that can build capacity, creativity, human capital and cultural capital and in which everyone can participate in learning throughout their entire life cycle. Universities also must look into new strategies to ensure survival and withstand the impact of the low birth rate and aging population. Universities are required to transform into a lifelong learning university that is adult-friendly and community-friendly.

Another urgent task would be to create a community-friendly learning ecosystem via a tight, dense education network among cities. Other tasks that we should not overlook include building a lifelong education system for the younger generation that guarantees employment before school admission, educating and training to help baby boomers in their early retirement redesign their next chapters in life, encouraging senior citizens to participate in community activities and lifelong education to continue their passion for learning, and starting projects for senior citizens to link education with small jobs.

I sincerely expect these projects will help Korea become a truly happy country in the near future. I envision with hope a country of people continuing to learn and grow throughout their lives and continuing to build a web of friendly community.

Koreans know what they want. The unconventional singer Han Dae-soo already sang it in his song 38 years ago: “I want to go to the land of happiness.” Building and sustaining a society of lifelong learning will be a shortcut to the land of happiness. Perhaps that is why presidential candidates are rushing to highlight the importance of lifelong education. 

By Choi Un-shil, President of the National Institute for Lifelong Education

The author can be reached at cus@nile.or.kr ― Ed.