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Lifelong learning benefits everyone

It is said that the biggest room in the world is the room for improvement. We can all be a better student, worker, employer, child, spouse, parent or teacher, and lead more fulfilling lives.

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Joachim Sim Khim Huang

It is said that the biggest room in the world is the room for improvement. We can all be a better student, worker, employer, child, spouse, parent or teacher, and lead more fulfilling lives.

Education imparts the conceptual frameworks for solving different problems and creating new ideas or products, while training provides the knowledge for tackling specific situations.

With information and communication technology, the world is now our biggest classroom (“E-learning can help Singaporeans learn more for less”; Feb 23).

We must relearn the same subject with a broader scope, at a deeper level and in context for it to be helpful and meaningful.

Skills training and retraining are crucial in an evolving economy, although old-school concepts remain relevant and useful in discovering new ways of doing things and creating work opportunities.

In the old economy, schools prepared us for existing jobs; in the emerging economy, they prepare us for jobs that may not yet exist. Lifelong learning is also about learning on the job and using new tools to be more productive.

Before internships became common, we started our first job without prior experience. We learnt quickly to handle the job, however, by doing it and learning from our supervisors.

We can take up a different job or a new activity beyond work, whatever our age. Besides doing existing jobs, we can create our own jobs or new jobs to benefit others.

Apart from enriching one’s life, learning is about sharing what one has learnt to benefit others. We can do this through writing, giving talks and volunteering our service.

Older people have much to share with and learn from the younger generation, who grew up with digital disruption. Teachers may learn from their former students, and parents may learn from their children.

Let us live with our abilities and disabilities, pick up new knowledge, skills and tools, work in existing and new jobs, and play and compete — better. We add life to our years in the process, while overcoming and learning from the challenges we encounter.

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