This as the contributor acknowledges requires that the
opportunities/structures to support 'education' in or throughout the
life of individuals are put in place: it also requires that the
question of financing be considered. Here my opinion is that within
the context of life-long-learning it does not in principle matter, from the
perspective of the individual, when the 'extra' education (Liberal or
otherwise) beyond the minimum necessary to function as an active
member of society is acquired. Thus whether the individual undertakes
post-compulsory 'education'/'mediated learning' for
vocational/employment reasons or to 'expand' or 'grow' their selves
it needs to be acknowledged that they do so from 'self-interest' that is
for 'selfish' reasons: as a practicing educator I would welcome the
motivational implications of such a purpose-fully self selected
audience. However given the intrinsically selfish nature of the educational
relationship at the post-compulsory level my feeling is that in principle
the individual should be expected to finance it themselves. Here I would like
to point out that the line of reasoning adopted here is strictly analogous to
that developed in an earlier contribution of mine to the Nexus 3rd Way debate
on Social Economics and the non-antagonistic production system: there I
distinguished between the individuals needs (defined in terms of historically
informed material needs) and desires (wants beyond need) with the former
being satisfied as of right (by eg a minimum basic income) and the latter being
satisfied by the individual pursuing (in the market place) their desires.
In descending from the high ground of principle and considering the
question of the financing of post-compulsory education/life long
learning I would propose for debate a combination of the establishment of tax
efficient hypothecated saving accounts for individuals and 'tax
breaks' of employers/sponsors. Further I would expect/recommend the
state because it has a need for well educated citizens, in both
the Liberal and vocational sense, in the knowledge based economy which is
evolving, to implement policies with a view to engineering the
desired social situation. For example the state might match (or
indeed over-match) individual savings or employer/sponsor
contributions for 'students' below a certain age or educational level
(eg UK A levels) and/or for certain courses of study. While not
directly related to the financing of an individuals learning the
impact on the cost structures of 'institutions of education' (and the
potential for 'demassification') of the development of synchronous and
asynchronous on-line learning environments and the digitialisation of content
will I believe be immense.
Shaun Keyes
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