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Learning the World? Changing Dimensions of Adult Education and Lifelong Learning in India

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Global Perspectives on Adult Education and Learning Policy

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Abstract

The traditional perceptions of education are changing in India, so that its dimensions of adult education and lifelong learning can make them internationally compatible, globally viable and nationally realistic. Lifelong learning is mostly perceived as an overarching framework of learning mechanisms, which allow individuals to learn throughout their lives and upgrade their skills and competencies. This notion is largely supported by the neoliberal ideologies of open competition and market mechanisms (Appadurai, 2001; Dixit, 2009). The idea of lifelong learning seems to be a viable step as India aspires to become a global superpower and a knowledge-based society in the near future. Significant changes can be observed, with the focus shifting from the country’s traditional welfare-oriented, non-formal basic literacy-related initiatives to all kinds of learning to impart skills and competencies in order to match the requirements of the globalizing neoliberal economy. Recent policies go beyond the conventional ‘3Rs’ of reading, writing and arithmetic to propose the ‘4Cs’: ‘critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity’ (PCI, 2013).

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Authors
  1. Sayantan Mandal
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Aarhus University, Denmark

    Marcella Milana

  2. Simon Fraser University, Canada

    Tom Nesbit

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© 2015 Sayantan Mandal

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Mandal, S. (2015). Learning the World? Changing Dimensions of Adult Education and Lifelong Learning in India. In: Milana, M., Nesbit, T. (eds) Global Perspectives on Adult Education and Learning Policy. Palgrave Studies in Global Citizenship Education and Democracy. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137388254_11

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