ADULT EDUCATION
The National Adult Education Programme (NAEP) was formally launched by the Government of India on October 2, 1978, but for all practical purposes the year 1979-80 was the first year of its implementation. An appraisal of the programme has shown that it got off to a good start. It is, however, observed that even though progress of the programme has been satisfactory in the country as a whole, there are variations in extent and coverage in various parts. While in certain, States it has been given the desired priority, in others it has yet to be property taken up.
The overall responsibility for administration of NAEP rests with the Ministry of Education. However, various other Ministries and Departments of the Government of India have taken positive steps for linkage of their programmes and activities with NAEP. Ministry of Social Welfare has expanded its programme of Functional Literacy of Adult Women as part of the Integrated Child Development Services Programme. The programme of Family Planning of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has a close link with NAEP. The Central Board of Workers' Education of the Ministry of Labour has decided to reorient their programmes to cover as many illiterate workers as possible and to include literacy as an essential component. The various programmes of Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Re-construction are also being linked with NAEP.
The programme is being implemented through various agencies such as State Governments/Union Territories, voluntary agencies, universities and colleges, Nehru-Yuvak Kendras, public undertakings, etc. Over 94,000 centres were being run at the end of June, 1979 by different agencies, with
104
105
or without financial assistance from the Government of India, as shown below :-
(i) Rural Farmers' Literacy Programme 27,996
(ii) State Government projects 19,644
(iii) Voluntary agencies
with Central assistance 19,029
without Central assistance. 13,650
(iv) Nehru Yuvak Kendras 7,129
(v) Universities and Colleges 3,684
(vi) ICDSP 3,049
TOTAL 94,181
NATIONAL BOARD OF ADULT EDUCATION AND STATE BOARDS OF ADULT
EDUCATION Co-ordination of the programme and integration with development activity has been attempted by the National Board of Adult Education and the corresponding Boards at the State and District levels. The National Board of Adult Education held two meetings during the year. In the first meeting greater involvement in the NAEP of Panchayati Raj Institutions, trade unions, co-operatives and other development agencies was discussed. In the second meeting the Board emphasised the need for greater involvement of other Ministries and Departments dealing with development programmes both at the Centre and in the States, as well as of universities and colleges through their teachers and students and NSS programmes. Simplification of Government procedures for timely release of funds to voluntary agencies was also considered. These matters are being pursued with the concerned agencies.
The following Sub-Committees set up by the National Board also submitted their reports to the Board :-
(i) Committee on post-literacy and follow-up programme.
(ii) Committee on evaluation.
(iii) Committee on motivation.
(iv) Committee on voluntary agencies.
106
The State and District Boards have been set up in most of the States and have been holding meetings during the year. Besides these, Steering Commitees have also been set up in several States under the Chairmanship of the Chief Secretaries, with a view to facilitating co- ordination with the other Departments in the States.
Strengthening of Administrative Structures in the States/Union
Territories/Districts
Rural Functional Literacy Projects During 1979-80, thirty-six new projects have, been sanctioned throughout the country bringing the total to 245. During 1980-81 it is expected that the number of projects under this scheme would be substantially increased. The financial provision for this Scheme for the year 1979-80 was Rs. 13.50 crores, later reduced due to economy, to Rs. 8.30 crores.
Assistance to Voluntary Agencies Working in the Field of Adult
Education During the current financial year over about 650 Voluntary agencies have been assisted so far to run about 30,000 adult education centres with an expected enrolment of about 9 lakhs
107
of illiterate adults. A provision of Rs. 416 lakhs has been made for the scheme during the current year. For the year 1980-81, a provision of Rs. 600 lakhs has been proposed.
Voluntary agencies which have satisfactorily completed projects, lasting for about a year have been advised to provide post-literacy and follow up programmes to the, neo-literates. They are being provided funds for this purpose also.
Besides the field programmes of running Adult Education Centres, voluntary agencies have also been assisted for the development of resource support. Ten Resource Centres have been set up by voluntary agencies in various States for curriculum development and preparation of teaching and learning materials; training of project officers and supervisors; production of post-literacy and follow-up materials; evaluation, research, innovation, etc. A beginning has been made in the production of teaching aids, learning materials and post-literacy follow-up materials in the tribal languages, and such material is now available in more than 16 major tribal languages. Reasonably satisfactory materials are now available in all regional languages as well as in several important dialects. Some of these Resource Centres have also taken up small field programmes to serve as a laboratory for try-out of their activities.
Adult Education Through Colleges and Universities in India: In all, nearly 80 universities and about 2,000 colleges have decided to participate in NAEP. Most of them are conducting surveys and organising discussion to determine the manner of their involvement and the size of the programme to be undertaker, by them. By the end of October 1979, 55 universities
108
and 602 colleges had been sanctioned funds by University Grants Commission for running 7,330 adult education centres.
Besides the above activities, universities are also providing resource support to the programme in some States. At present three Resource Centres have been set up by universities at Chandigarh, Srinagar and Osmania (Hyderabad).
Exchange Programme
DIRECTORATE OF ADULT EDUCATION The Directorate of Adult Education, a subordinate office of the Ministry, serves as its academic and technical wing and acts as the National Resource Centre for curriculum development, production of reading and teaching materials, training of adult education functionaries, research, evaluation and monitoring. Following were the main activities of the Directorate during the current financial year:-
Promotional Activities (i) Meetings and consultations with Development Depa- rtments to seek co-operation and involvement in effective implementation of the NAEP;
(ii) Orientation programme for senior development fun- ctionaries at Hyderabad from July 30 to August 4, 1979 to promote an understanding of the NAEP and its linkages with other development programmes;
(iii) Preparation and distribution of posters for display, production of documentary films on NAEP through Films Division, involvement of radio and television in promoting Adult Education, Production of series of slide sets on NAEP, publication of NAEP Newsletter, Current Awareness Service;
109
(iv) Workshop on folk media at Dehradun from 7-12 July, 1979 to consider involvement of the traditional folk media in promotion and implementation of the NAEP;
(v) Publication of 5 titles under promotional materials, 5 titles under technical information materials, 11 titles under general information materials and Punjabi primer and re-prints of Naya Kadam sets, for distribution to various agencies;
(vi) Technical support for training and preparation of basic literacy materials and teacher's guide for NAEP to different States, voluntary organisations, State Resource Centres, Central Institute, of Indian Lan- guages, universities and colleges, NCERT and liaison with DAVP for mass publicity of the programme;
(vii) Conduct of a National Conference of Planning and Development of Population Education Programme in Adult Education and Population Studies Centre, Tirupati from September 17 to 20, 1979 for promotion of population education as an element in the NAEP.
Preparation of Materials (a) Following activities towards curriculum development were undertaken :-
(i) prepared survey schedules for determining the interests and learning needs separately of rural and urban groups;
(ii) published a book on curriculum development:
(iii) worked out the norms in reading, writing and arithmetic which would be attained in the expected programme of 300--350 hours; and
(iv) developed illustrative curriculum for certain, specific learner groups.
(b) Action has been initiated to
(i) prepare the prototype illustrative materials for the use of neo-literates. A series of Writers' work shops for production of materials for neo-literates
110
is planned to be undertaken in collaboration with State Resource Centre and other agencies in the country;
(ii) meet the requirements of teaching and learning materials, suited to the needs of the illiterates semi- literate workers engaged in mines, plantation and other industrial sectors. A series of writers' workshops have. been planned to produce materials in collaboration with Central Board of Workers Education; and
(iii) develop prototype teaching and learning materials for rural areas around Delhi and in the States of Haryana, U. P. consisting of a primer, a workbook, a set of charts and flashcards and a teachers' guide.
Monitoring, Evaluation and Research Monitoring and evaluation have been regarded as complementary processes in the context of National Adult Education Programme, with the aim to help find shortcoming or weakness of the programme implementation and provide appropriate direction for applying corrective action. Following steps were taken to evolve a systematic procedure for monitoring of the programme:-
(i) Four Zonal Orientation Seminars were organised at Delhi, 'Bombay, Madras and Calcutta during January and February, 1979, with a view to providing resource support to the States and to develop expertise in the field of monitoring and evaluation.
(ii) Two seminars were organised on Monitoring and Evaluation of NAEP in September, 1979 at Lucknow and Pune for the personnel in charge of monitoring in the States and Union Territories as a follow-up of the above noted zonal seminars.
As a result, the following four areas have been identified for which monitoring is considered necessary for periodic attention and timely action-(i) financial aspects; (ii) administrative aspects; (iii) academic or technical aspects; and (iv) physical aspects. A set of forms seeking information on each of these areas has been sent to all the State Governments and UTs for collection of coverage data. This will facilitate flow of data from the Instructor to the Project Officer and from the latter to the
111
State Government who in turn will provide consolidated information to the Directorate for evaluation of programme. The State Governments have been asked to prepare their own plans for evaluation.
For the evaluation of the programme in the various States, the following Social Science Research Institutions have been identified:-
(i) Sardar Patel Institute of Economic & Social
Research, Ahmedabad Gujarat
(ii) Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad Rajasthan
(iii) Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Bombay Maharashtra
(iv) Madras Institute of Development Studies,
Madras Tamil Nadu
(v) Indian Institute of Economic Growth, New
Delhi Delhi
(vi) AN Sinha Institute of Social Sciences,
Patna Bihar
(vii) Institute of Economic & Social Change,
Bangalore Karnataka
All these institutions are receiving grant-in-aid from the Central Government for their evaluation programmes. Agencies for evaluation of the programme in the remaining States are being identified.
Training (i) Orientation Seminars were held for Senior Key Level personnel at the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration on April 16-21, July 9-14 and December 10-15, 1979 and at the Institute of Rural Development, Hyderabad between July 30 and August 4, 1979.
(ii) A Training Seminar was organised in Delhi for the Co-ordinators from 10 selected districts of the Pilot- Project in co-operation, with the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration and Office of Statistics of UNESCO. A series of Training Programmes were arranged for field level workers for this project in different districts selected for the Project.
112
(iii) Two re-orientation seminars of Districts Collectors and senior officials of State Development Departments were organised at the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, Delhi (NIEPA) and the National Institute of Rural Development, Hyderabad.
(iv) Two 2-day seminars were organised on regional basis, for State Education Secretaries, Directors of Education, State Adult Education Officers, etc. (NIRD)- sponsored by the Ministry of Education.
(v) One 15-day field operational training programme and three 6-day reorientation seminars for senior level administrative personnel, leaders of voluntary agencies and selected teachers from universities, were organised by NIRD and two by NIEPA.
(vi) Eight seminars for university adult educators and National Service Scheme Co-ordinators were organised by University Grants Commission, Indian Universities Association for Continuing Education, NIRD and NIEPA.
(vii) Three 1-week reorientation programmes were held for Youth Co-ordinators of Nehru Yuvak Kendras.
In addition, a large number of orientation and training seminars, have been organised for key personnel in voluntary agencies. In organisation of these seminars the State Governments, Indian Adult Education Association and the State Resource Centres, and a number of voluntary agencies have played a leading part.
Shramik Vidyapeeths Under the scheme of Adult Education for Urban Workers, Institutions known as Shramik Vidyapeeths have been set up in I I centres, namely, Ahmedabad, Ajmer, Bangalore, Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi, Guntur, Hyderabad, Indore, Jamshedpur, and Nagpur. The main objective of these vidyapeeths is to explore, innovate, workout alternatives, try new methodologies and thus meet the needs of those, workers through its programmes of education and training. These Shramik Vidyapeeths organised various programmes tailored to the needs of different categories during the year. In all 50 such centres are envisaged to be in operation by the end of the Sixth Plan period.
113
An, Urban Adult Education, Unit has been set up in the Directorate of Adult Education to provide special support to the Shramik Vidyapeeths in existence. Operational guidelines were also provided by this Unit for developing the programmes of the newly approved centres at Ajmer, Guntur and Hyderabad.
Sharing of International Experiences
(a) Commonwealth Programmes India was host to the VIII Commonwealth Conference on Non-Formal Education for Development in 1979. 129 delegates and experts from 26 Commonwealth countries UN and other world agencies, besides the officials of the Commonwealth Secretariat, participated in it.
(b) Unesco Programmes (i) Workshops
Unesco-sponsored Regional Workshop on Curriculum Development was held in Udaipur (Rajasthan) in November and December, 1979. 32 participants from 12 countries participated in this workshop.
(ii) Visits Abroad
Three teams of Indian Adult Educators comprising Government officers of the Centre and States, Members of voluntary agencies and universities, were sent to study programmes in : (i) Kenya, (ii) Indonesia, (iii) Sri Lanka, (iv) Philippines, and (V) the Republic of Korea.
(c) Visits of Foreign Delegations/Visitors The Directorate received the following visitors/delegation from abroad to study/discuss NAEP.
(i) A delegation of 4 from Afghanistan, under the US Aid project.
(ii) A team of 4 Educationists from Bangladesh for studying Non- formal Education including Adult Education.
(iii) A team of 2 Egyptian experts to study workers' education.
114
(iv) A team of 4 Professors from Chiangamai University, Thailand, to study educational development programme in India including Adult Education.
(v) A team of eleven Thai functional literacy specialists for Hill-tribal programmes in Thailand, to study the NAEP in tribal areas.
(vi) A team of 8 experts from Vietnam to study Adult Education.
Review Committee on Adult Education Programme In the month of October 1979, a Review Committee was set tip under the Chairmanship of Dr. D. S. Kothari to review the Adult Education Programme in all its aspects and suggest improvements. The Committee held several meetings and has visited the various States. The report of the Committee is expected to be finalised in March, 1980.