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Adult Education from Jomtien, via Hamburg and Paris, to Dakar

This short paper considers the development of thinking within UNESCO since the Education for All Conference in Jomtien, Thailand in 1990. It traces developments through to the Fifth International Conference on Adult Education (Confitea V) held in Hamburg in 1995 to the World Conference on Higher Education held in Paris in 1998 and finally to the Education for All (EFA) 2000 Assessment which was convened in Dakar, Senegal, in April 2000. The goals at each of these points in time are outlined together with an assessment of outcomes. It can be concluded that there has been considerable achievement over this period, but even more remains to be accomplished. It is argued that there are clear rationales for investing in adult learners that are obvious from a number of perspectives including active citizenship, social exclusion, living standards and employability. Yet, despite progress achieved, one adult in four was illiterate at the end of the 20th Century. For this reason, the Dakar EFA Follow-up is giving special attention to this issue. Higher Education has a duty to help meet this challenge and to do so effectively major reorganization of the traditional university learning context is needed. A greater capacity for adaptation and flexibility amongst academics is urgently called for, as widening access becomes a priority that will not disappear.