Target 4.4 "significantly increases the proportion of young people and adults with the skills necessary for employment, rewarding human-like work and entrepreneurship, such as technical and vocational skills," and its indicator is "having ICT skills." Percentage of young people and adults. " There are various levels of ICT skills, but for example, the percentage of people who "can perform simple calculations such as addition and subtraction using spreadsheet software such as Excel and Open Office" is 65% (* 5). ..

Occupational skills include not only ICT skills set as indicators, but also various skills according to occupation. Also, not only the skills to be hired, but also the skills to start a business by oneself are required with the development of artificial intelligence.

In addition, in order to acquire vocational skills, "basic skills" such as reading, writing, and calculation are indispensable. On top of that, "life skills" ("highly versatile skills") such as self-esteem, problem-solving, communication, creative thinking, and empathy with others are required (* 6). These skills are not only the ability to start a business, but also the skills to empower people and improve society, and the promotion of adult education in the field of life skills is required.

(* 5) Ministry of Foreign Affairs https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/gaiko/oda/sdgs/statistics/goal4.html

（※６）UNESCO　http://jnne.org/doc/2012_gemr_summary_2_japanese.pdf

Target 4.6 is "to enable all young people and the majority (both men and women) of adults to acquire literacy and basic computing skills." The Government of Japan reports that both literacy and computing ability are 99%, but this data includes data for illiterate people, people with intellectual and mental disabilities, and people with language problems (mainly foreigners). Is not included (* 7). In the first place, no nationwide literacy survey has been conducted in Japan for more than 70 years since 1948. A national literacy survey including resident foreigners should be conducted at an early stage to understand the actual situation of literacy and calculation ability. In addition to setting up one public junior high school night club in one prefecture, which has only 36 schools nationwide, it can also be set up in core cities, introduce a communication system, and support voluntary night junior high school by volunteers. The Law for Securing Educational Opportunities should be revised. This makes it possible to provide learning opportunities for those who have not completed compulsory education and formal graduates.

(* 7) National Institute for Educational Policy Research https://www.nier.go.jp/04_kenkyu_annai/pdf/piaac_summary_2013.pdf

● Kazuaki Tani / Kazuaki /
Makiko Kondo Kondo / Makiko

The "Adult Learning and Education Recommendations (RALE)" is the only international law in the field of adult education adopted by the 38th General Assembly of UNESCO in 2015. Although it is not as legally binding as the treaty, the governments of member countries, including Japan, are required to make the text known to the public and make every effort to realize it.

RALE is a revision of the "Recommendations for the Development of Adult Education" adopted at the 19th General Assembly in 1976, but it is a completely new document that reflects the changes in society for nearly 40 years. The 1976 Recommendation clarifies that adult education, which is the core of lifelong education, is a public issue required by the times against the backdrop of global economic growth and the rise of mass movements since the 1960s. It was a document that systematically presented the necessary measures. The goals, challenges and measures set forth there have not lost their significance as policy norms for adult education.

Nonetheless, the expansion of public spending on adult education, which the 1976 Recommendation envisioned, stalled at the beginning of the low-growth era, and since the 1980s public spending on adult education has rather been under the financial crisis. Will be curtailed, privatizing facilities and reducing professional staff. And with the rise of neoliberalism, the development of adult education as a public issue becomes "unreal". In that sense, RALE is oriented towards measures that can demonstrate the social benefits of adult education against the reality of expanding market fundamentalism and reducing public spending. This shows that half of the space is devoted to measures related to the five areas of activity common to all businesses: policy, governance, finance, participation / inclusion / fairness, and quality (Note). The emphasis is on building an information collection and evaluation system that regularly monitors the realization of these measures.

In RALE, as the central learning areas of adult education that addresses today's educational, cultural, political, social, and economic issues, (1) literacy and basic education, (2) continuous education and specialized development (vocational skills), ③ Liberal / People / Community Education (Active Citizenship Skills) was presented. These should not be independent of each other, but should develop the formation of vocational skills and active citizenship skills as literacy education, and should develop the abilities of literacy and active citizenship as vocational skills, and should be active. Literacy education and vocational education to cultivate citizenship skills are envisioned.

RALE provides important guidelines for the future development of quality adult education.

(Note) The five areas are clarified in the "Belem Action Framework" adopted at the 6th UNESCO International Conference on Adult Education (held in Belem, Brazil), and serve as the axis for evaluating the progress of adult education measures in each country.