The Contribution of Open And Distance Education System on Life-Long Learning Process: The Case of Anadolu Univ

Education is a key factor that makes people healthier, enhances income distribution, decreases poverty rates, promotes productivity by encouraging technological advance, leads up economic growth and decreases unemployment rates. The process of education had been limited to childhood and youth but today, that point of view is abandoned. Today, the concept of life-long learning shapes education policies all over the World. In terms of this, contributions of the systems of open and distance education, which have been developed rapidly in parallel with information and communication Technologies, to the mission of life-long learning is discussed in literature. The purpose of this study is to reveal at which rate Anadolu University Open and Distance Education System contributes to the life-long learning. As the indicators of that contribution, the people that are registered to secondary university, are handicapped, are either an arrestee or an detainee and are old were analyzed. The results are in line with the hypothesis of Anadolu University Open and Distance Education System contributes to life-long learning target largely.