LIFELONG LEARNING AND SKILL ENHANCEMENT

Lifelong learning may be broadly defined as learning that is pursued throughout life: learning that is flexible, diverse and available at different times and places. Education is the knowledge or skill obtained or developed by a learning process which itself is a lifelong progression. An individual requires proficiency, facility, or dexterity developed through training or experience, as skills are required to make life more productive and useful. Lifelong learning can instill creativity, initiative and responsiveness in people thereby enabling them to show adaptability in post-industrial society through enhancing skills to manage uncertainty ; communicate across and within cultures, sub-cultures, families and communities and negotiate conflicts. It is the continuous building of skills and knowledge throughout the life of an individual. Lifelong learning encompasses formal, non-formal and informal types of education and training where the emphasis is on learning to learn and the ability to keep learning for a lifetime. There is a need to make students at school level aware of life skills and to train them in the different types of skills in accordance with their ability. 21st century skills can be applied in all academic subject areas, and in all educational, career, and civic settings throughout a student’s life. The present paper suggests various ways of enhancing the lifelong skills in diverse areas.