Policy Implication of Lifelong Learning Program of EU for Korea

AbstractThe EU launched the Lifelong Learning Program (LLP) in 2007. It is a breakthrough attempt to amalgamate the regular learning program with the job training. The LLP can be interpreted as an extension of the Lisbon Strategy which pursues to facilitate the knowledge-based economy. The LLP is the key to employment, economic success and allowing people to participate fully in society in a rapidly changing world. Other merits of the LL of EU comprise a more integrated interdisciplinary approach and a more vigorous stance on the mutual interaction between the LL and conventional education system. The Korean government has implemented LL in a hierarchic way, thus, it may be required to induce the participation of stakeholder of local communities. Another feature may be the affluent corporate sector and impoverished private sector in delivering LL. It may be noticeable that the wedge between public and private education institutions has increased all the way which hardly contribute for alleviating the personal distribution of income and social exclusion. It may be a due time for Korea to reverse the megatrend of predominance of private sector in LL by rebalancing the available funds between the public and private ones. It may be worthwhile for Korea to capture new attributes of the LLP of the EU which reinforces an automatic feedback system between regular academic courses and job training ones by reflecting economic, social and environmental issues simultaneously