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This paper is concerned with the nature of formal and nonformal learning with a focus on the longer-term consequences for lifelong learning, of the hidden differences between formal school institutional learning, and the broader societal lifelong learning purposes they are assumed to serve. It presents an overview of the importance of learning to the achievement of national goals of socio-economic well-being and a civil society. Serious concerns are raised that there is a mismatch between the learning that occurs in formal school settings, and the lifelong learning skills associated with success in meeting socio-economic goals. The analyses presented in the paper tend to support the view that the power of the different kinds of learning associated with 'formal' and 'informal' learning is counterproductive to a lifelong learning regime.