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This is Ireland’s first White Paper on Adult Education. It is testimony to arecognition by the Government of the fact that:-• the Adult Education sector has a major contribution to make to meetingthe skill requirements of a rapidly changing workforce, and to thedominant national concerns of social cohesion and equity in theemergence of a broadly inclusive and pro-active civil society;• the sector has shown itself to be highly creative, effective, challenging andrelevant;• concerns to promote a framework for lifelong learning, and critically tocater for the needs of adults within it, are increasingly moving centre stagein countries throughout the developed world.This Chapter will:-• specify the aims of the White Paper;• propose a definition of Adult Education;• explore the significance of the role of Adult Education in contributing tothe overall vision of modern Irish society;• elaborate on the key principles upon which the White Paper is based;• provide an overview of the educational attainment of the Irish adultpopulation.1.2 AIMSThis White Paper aims to provide a template for the development of the AdultEducation sector as part of an overall Government commitment to establishing acomprehensive system of lifelong learning for all. Specifically, the Paper will:-• reflect on the role of Adult Education in the context of an overall vision forthe development of this society;• build on the consultation process surrounding the Green Paper on AdultEducation: Adult Education in an Era of Lifelong Learning 1998 (hereafterreferred to as the Green Paper), focusing in particular on the needs of thelearners;CHAPTER 1Adult EducationWhite Paper on Adult Education – Learning for Life 27• set out the Government priorities and the framework for the futuredevelopment of the sector, based on the feedback from the consultationprocess;• identify the priority areas for public investment in Adult Education, in thelight of a rapidly changing societal and cultural context and in the contextof an overall commitment to lifelong learning;• identify priority groups and programme areas and set targets forimplementation;• elaborate upon the roles of various providers in the field and the supportsthey require;• provide for a learner-centred framework incorporating infrastructuralelements such as guidance and counselling, quality assurance and thetraining of trainers, and ensuring a coherent range of pathways for adultsbetween education and training and other relevant supports;• propose a comprehensive structural framework at national and local levelfor the support and development of Adult Education;• set adult education in the context of an overall continuum of qualityeducation services from early childhood through to and throughout,adulthood, as an integral element of a framework for lifelong learning.While this Paper bridges the traditional divide between education and training, itdoes not aim to provide a policy blueprint for the training aspects of the field, giventhat this task is being advanced through the National Employment Action Plans(1998, 1999, 2000), and previous publications, and through the work of the TaskForce on Lifelong Learning. The Paper seeks, however, to ensure that there is a fitand complementarity between education and training provision so as to enable thelearner to move progressively and incrementally within an overarching, coordinated and learner-centred framework.1.3 DEFINITIONFor the purposes of this Paper, Adult Education is defined as "systematic learningundertaken by adults who return to learning having concluded initial education ortraining". The concept is intended to encapsulate:-• re-entry by adults to Further Education: i.e. education and training whichoccurs between second and third-level. This includes programmes suchas Post Leaving Certificate courses, second-chance education such as the28 White Paper on Adult Education – Learning for LifeVocational Training Opportunities Scheme for the unemployed, AdultLiteracy and Basic Education, and self-funded adult educationprogrammes;re-entry by adults to Higher Education;Continuing Education and Training: i.e. professional or vocationaldevelopment of people in the workforce or re-entering the workforce;regardless of the level;Community Education: i.e. the process whereby marginalised groupsformulate a process of user-driven, learner-centred and communaleducation;other systematic and deliberate learning undertaken by adults in a widevariety of settings and contexts, both formal and informal.The underpinning theme in this definition is centred on the adult learner'sre-engagement having exited from the system at an earlier stage in life.
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