Global Economic Forces Re-Defining Adult Education Policy - Research Proposal Example

In recent years, the government has focused on aligning Australia with other global knowledge-based economies in order to meet the demand for skills in the market. The government through reports such as Knowledge and Innovation of 1999, investing for Growth (1997), and Backing Australia’s Ability (2001) outlines the importance of formulating strategies that will help the government to achieve the capacity required to effectively deal with globalization and its challenges.

            The report exposed issues that influence Australia’s position in the global knowledge economy. It provides insights into what measures the government and the community as a whole should undertake in order to participate effectively in the current wave of global change.  While these reports provide extensive highlights into potential drivers of change, it identifies education as the major component that will equip the community to manage this change.

            The private segment played has played important in shaping Australia’s position in the global market. Organizations are looking into recruiting and training employees in line with business strategies. The global market requires a versatile employee with up-to-date skills, technology savvy, innovation, flexible, and multi-skilled to be able to compete with the dynamism of the global market. The world is continually becoming a global village; people want to participate in the global economy and sample the tastes and preferences of the other divisions of the world without necessarily losing their native roots.

            Globalization has enabled businesses to import skills from across the continents to match the needs of their global clientele. Workforce diversity is today’s reality for a shot at success in the global market. The knowledge base acquired in the past may be obsolete in the current situation. There is pressure for higher education especially for the older bracket of the national population. 

The Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) and the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) have recognized the need to develop employability skills to merge the requirements of the enterprises in the country. The future of Australian industries lies in the development of individual employability skills and personal attributes, the older population included (Australian National Training Authority, 2003). 

Thesis Statement: The Principles for Adult Education in Australia are being re-defined by the Global Economies of the 21st Century.

The Proposed Study

Statement of hypotheses

• Educational motivators and educational policy has changed significantly since Western Economies industrialized last century compared to the 21st century.
• Training and education are vital instruments for the government and the surrounding community in their course of enhancing the employability of the people to meet the ever-increasing demand for the workforce.
• Adult education policy in Australia is successfully responding to the economic needs of the country to successfully compete in the changing global economy.
• Knowledge work and knowledge workers are important to Australia’s economic success. Government policy and initiatives are successfully placing Australia as a critical international player in economic knowledge by creating communities equipped to understand and participate in ongoing technological change.
  
  

Background

Many nations around the world, both developed and developing are currently facing a steady demand for higher levels of literacy. Globalization is driving the need to develop a myriad of skills that will improve numerical and technical skills to allow senior citizens to continue being relevant in nation-building.

While most people in the country today can read and write, the real issue is whether the citizenry can handle today’s global economic demands. Try to imagine the volume of information available in electronic cyberspace and other contemporary media. This information presents numerous opportunities to a nation only if its citizens can deduce meaning from this junk.