Jacques Delors’ 1996 Learning: The Treasure Within report proposed an ambitious and comprehensive approach to lifelong learning, anticipating current challenges. Europe is confronted with educator shortages, underachievement in basic skills, limited participation in learning, rising inequities, barriers to validation and recognition of learning, revealing a system in need of reforms.
Delors understood the need to re-envision education and training as an ongoing process for improving knowledge and skills, bringing about personal development, and building relationships among individuals, groups and nations. The ‘global village’ he spoke of is under attack with increasingly siloed views of education and training at the national level and with a deprioritisation of funding. Europe is far from Delors’ vision, with the science community and civil society networks of education and training providers decades-long warnings on our current system’s shortcomings.
The Union of Skills (UoS) responds to Delors’ plea: ‘The improvement of education [...] requires policy-makers to face up squarely to their responsibilities. They cannot leave it to market forces or self-regulation to put things right…’. Therefore, the Lifelong Learning Platform stands ready to help achieve this ambitious perspective.
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