«FORMAL» AND «NON-FORMAL» EDUCATION IN UKRAINE IN THE CONTEXT OF NEW SOCIO-CULTURAL CHALLENGES

The article discusses the definitions of «formal» and «non-formal» education as varieties of lifelong learning in the context of foreign and Ukrainian scholars. The author outlines the semantic field of «lifelong learning» in the coordinates of interdisciplinary research, basic approaches and interpretations of scientists. The author determines essential characteristics of formal, non-formal and informal education; identifies their priorities and key differences that identifies one type from another: formal education from non-formal – the difference lies in the fact that the latter is an addition or an alternative to the formal, as well as in the official recognition or non-recognition by the state or authorized non-state qualification bodies obtained on the basis of educational achievements. The distinctive feature of informal education is that it is not institutionalized and possesses such features as: a period of study, age, gender, regional, religious characteristics, the right to choose an educational institution or facility, training program or field of study, educational and professional programs.Key words: lifelong learning, non-formal education, formal education, informal education.