Can we achieve equitable learning beyond hierarchical measurement? Challenges in the era of lifelong learning

Since the UN passed its Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, there has been a seemingly commonsense equation between schooling and education, and access to quality schooling is considered to mean the assurance of educational rights. Against such an assumption, this paper demonstrates the complex nature of educational equity in the modern world, where the demands for knowledge are in constant flux. If the purpose of education is solely to acquire knowledge, learning can occur outside the institutionalized school system. However, individuals and societies place a high value on formal education and its credentials, which intensifies the competition for higher and better education. The simple equation of educational rights with schooling has a risk of fanning such thirst for credentials rather than equalizing opportunities. The author argues that the world culture of schooling and international tests have contributed to standardizing the popular aspiration globally along the axes of years in school and test results. In today’s dynamic world, individuals have to continue learning throughout their lives to catch up with changing demands for knowledge. Therefore, the concept of equity should be more in line with individuals’ motivations and contexts of learning than with the access to and quality of educational institutions.