A Comparative Study Of Laws And Regulations Of Lifelong Education In China, Japan And South Korea

Lifelong education as an international trend of educational thought was emerged in 1960s. UNESCO proposed that "Lifelong education will be the dominant ideology of education reform in developed and developing countries in the next few years." Thus, Japanese parliament passed the "Law on Revival of Lifelong Learning" in 1990. South Korea put the "lifelong education" into the constitution in 1980s, and enacted the "Lifelong Education Law" in 2000. The 17th National Congress of the CPC pointed out that "further improved modern national education system, basically built the lifelong education system, apparently improved the educational qualification of the whole nation and the educational level of innovative talents" were new requirements to build a well-off society. It is the significant strategic goal and guide to do the education work in the new stage of reformation. It has been a major strategic choice to construct a lifelong learning system in the present education reformation for China.This paper compares and analyzes the policies and regulations of lifelong education in Japan, South Korea, China (Taiwan and Fujian), and the legislative attempt to lifelong education in Shanghai and Beijing. It discusses the advantages and the disadvantages of lifelong education legislation in these countries, and reveals the key elements. The paper also puts forward a proposal to develop a national lifelong learning legislation in China based on the need and current situation of the development of lifelong education in China, through borrowing the legislative experience of existing laws and regulations.This paper includes seven parts. Chapter one is introduction, it indicates the purpose and significance of this study, and the relative study actuality at home and abroad. The next four chapters analyze the policies and regulations of lifelong education in Japan, South Korea, some cities of mainland China and Taiwan in particular, to find out the characteristics, experience and shortcomings of themselves. The sixth chapter comprehensively compares the advantages and the disadvantages of the existing regulations, and then puts forward a proposal to develop a national lifelong learning legislation in China. The last chapter of the paper briefly summarizes the harvest and deficiency. The appendix is a preliminary idea on the draft of Lifelong Education Law of the People's Republic of China.