Unsatisfied need for continuing education

Constant progress in research, rapid building-up of new information, and accelerating technology require those in the professions (law, engineering, medicine, etc.) to continue acquiring knowledge and techniques throughout their working lives. This need is unsatisfied in many educational systems. A major bottleneck, particularly in the development and utilization of technology, lies in the inadequate provision for the training of manpower with middle-level skills. This includes young adults, both men and women, with training above that acquired through traditional skill training and below that normally obtained in universities. It covers such work as that done by para-professionals, technologists and technicians, whose functions increasingly entail the exercise of both technical and managerial responsibilities. This is also the group of people who are increasingly affected by unemployment, aggravated by the movement of the population bulge (which exists in many countries) from adolescents to young adults.