Kareen Cox  
Career Writer


Generally speaking, lifelong learning is the process of acquiring knowledge or skills throughout life via education, training, work and general life experiences. The twenty-first century’s rapidly changing economy, has made lifelong learning an absolute must for everybody. Why? Well, the advent of globalisation, which can be defined as the international integration of goods, technology, labour, and capital, has brought new risks and insecurities. On the one hand, faster movement of capital from one country to another, innovation and new technologies, free movement of workers, and a more volatile international economy, have benefitted consumers through new and cheaper products and services, such as cell phones, laptops and MP3 players.  
   
The downside of globalisation, however, is the risk of losing one’s job and livelihood, which, ironically, is due to some of the same benefits of globalisation such as the free movement of workers, and a more volatile international economy. Gone are the days when you can be assured a place in a company for the duration of your working life. In fact, it is now customary for persons to change jobs many times over the course of their lives. Redundancies are also becoming a feature of globalization, as many companies either outsource their jobs to countries that can afford to pay lower wages or go bankrupt as a result of the negative impact of globalisation.  
   
The best way to combat these negative effects is by engaging in lifelong learning. The concept of lifelong learning stresses that learning and education are related to life as a whole, not just to work, and that learning throughout life is a continuum that should run from the cradle to the grave. This learning does not need to be linked to the attainment of formal qualifications, and involves learning in different ways, such as in a group, on your own or at your workplace.  
   
There are many learning activities in which persons can become involved in. These include:  
   
Day or evening classes  
Full-time or part-time university degrees  
Training programmes in the workplace  
Conferences or seminars  
Certificate programmes  
Researching on the internet  
Leisure time activities, eg. learning to play chess  
   
By engaging in lifelong learning, you can:  
   
Improve your job or career prospects  
Make your job more satisfying and increase your chances of promotion  
Meet persons with similar interests  
Develop your skills, strengths and talents  
Lifelong learning can also assist persons in adapting to the current knowledge based economy that has come to the forefront as a direct result of globalisation. Knowledge based jobs, the majority of which are centered on information technology, rely less on manufacturing and more on producing and managing data and information, as well as providing services. To reap the rich benefits of today's knowledge-based economy, it is increasingly important for workers to be able cope with technology-related shifts in the labour demand and to adapt to changes in the skills content of jobs.  
 
To embrace new technologies, companies need a highly educated and properly trained workforce. Improving our human capital – the knowledge, skills and qualities a person acquires – across the entire workforce, must be a priority. Workers must be continuously involved in upgrading and acquiring new knowledge, skills and competencies.  
   
Recent changes in the world over the last thirty years caused by the transformations of information technology, globalisation, and the move towards a knowledge economy, have resulted in a new age. In these times the demands are so complex and rapidly changing that the only way in which we will be able to survive, is by committing to a process of individual, communal, and global learning throughout our lifespan. Persons who engage in lifelong learning will be the ones to drive the engine of change and development in our society. They will become the active citizens who will remain employable and be able to access personal, social and economic opportunities in a globalised economy, where information and knowledge are the keys to prosperity.  
   
*Kareen Cox is a career resources
coordinator for the HEART Trust/NTA. Email Kareen_Cox@heart-nta.org