Adult education policy projections in the delors report

Abstract

The Report to UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century, completed in 1996, has come to be referred to simply as the Delors Report (indexed at TD/TNC 55.62). This article presents an analysis of the policy projections of the Delors Report, particularly in regard to adult education. The author asks three major questions of the Report, which are: Is the policy principled? Is the policy professionally sound? Is the policy practical? Results of the analysis find: the report has greater relevance for developed countries than for the developing nations of the world; formal institutional structures have been emphasised at the expense of alternative forms of education; more attention is devoted to preparing the way for children and youth than is given to the adults of today. The article concludes that the aspects of adult learning presented in the Delors Report are disappointing, with a seemingly unsure position on adult literacy and learning, and an obvious preference for formal learning opportunities.