4 out of 10 Adults Are 'Yeolgongjung'

Ministry of Education Announces '2020 National Lifelong Education Statistics'
Lifelong Learning Participation Rate Decreases by 1.7% Compared to Previous Year

Participation Rate in Lifelong Learning, Investment Costs, Information Accessibility (Data Provided by the Ministry of Education)

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] It was found that 4 out of 10 adults participate in lifelong learning. More than half reported that they do not participate in lifelong learning due to lack of time caused by work duties.

On the 21st, the Ministry of Education and the Korea Educational Development Institute announced the results of the '2020 National Lifelong Education Statistics,' conducted on 9,776 adults nationwide and 4,541 lifelong education institutions to be used for lifelong education policy establishment and research.

The lifelong learning participation rate was 40.0%, a decrease of 1.7 percentage points compared to the previous year. Women (40.3%) participated in lifelong learning more than men (39.7%), and the gender gap by year is gradually decreasing.

By age group, the participation rate in lifelong education was 50.2% for young adults (ages 25-34), higher than 29.5% for the elderly (ages 65-79). The participation rate of high-income groups was 15.7 percentage points higher than that of low-income groups. High income refers to a monthly average household income of 5 million won or more, and low income refers to less than 1.5 million won. The participation rate of vulnerable groups with less than 50% of the median income was 27.4%, which is 12.6% lower than the overall participation rate.

The main reasons for not participating in lifelong learning were 'work duties' (54.2%), followed by 'no educational institutions nearby' (19.1%), and 'lack of time due to family support' (16.1%).

2020 Lifelong Education Status, Program Status by Demand Target and Subject (Data=Ministry of Education)

Those who participated in lifelong learning reported higher satisfaction with their current lives. The current life satisfaction score was 71.4 for participants and 68.6 for non-participants. They answered that lifelong learning led to increased happiness, self-development, and acquisition of skills necessary for work.

The number of lifelong education institutions was 4,541, an increase of 246 (5.7 percentage points) compared to the previous year (4,295). By type, there were ▲1,098 affiliated with media organizations ▲1,048 remote lifelong education facilities ▲475 lifelong learning centers ▲474 affiliated with civil society organizations. Lifelong education facilities affiliated with media organizations increased by 30.4% compared to the previous year. It was found that 65.6% (2,979 institutions) of the facilities are concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area.

The number of lifelong education programs by subject was 194,772, an increase of 10,558 compared to last year. By subject, the programs were ▲vocational skill improvement (71,940) ▲culture and arts (58,589) ▲humanities and general knowledge (41,220) ▲academic supplementation (22,103). The number of learners was 24,397,282, an increase of 8,048,440 compared to the previous year. The number of online learners was 20,152,690, an increase of 65.7 percentage points compared to the previous year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.