ADULT EDUCATION
The Adult Education Programme constitutes a part of the New 20-Point Programme and the Minimum Needs Programme. The Sixth Plan Document envisages eradication of illiteracy in the age-group 15-35 by 1990. An outlay of Rs. 128 crores - Rs. 60 crores in the Central Sector and Rs. 68 crores in the State Sector - has been provided for Adult Education during the plan period.
In designing the Adult Education Programme, the Ministry of Education is guided by the following parameters:
- coverage of the districts having literacy rate below the national aver- age. There are 243 districts in the country having literacy rates below the national level and 193 districts which have female literacy rates below 20%.
- accord priority to the women, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, migrant labourers, and other weaker sections of the society to improve their literacy position.
- enlist larger participation of students in programmes for removal of illiteracy through the National Service Scheme in Colleges and Uni- versities and Non-student youth through the Nehru Yuvak Kendras.
- provide grants-in-aid to voluntary organisations working in the field of adult education and which have no communal leanings.
- strengthen the post-literacy programme to avoid lapse into illiteracy of the neo-literates.
- utilise the potential of electronic and folk media for motivational pur- poses.
The Adult Education Programme is being implemented through various agencies namely, the State Governments/Union Territory Administrations, Voluntary Organisations, Universities and Colleges, Nehru Yuvak Kendras etc. In the implementation of this Programme the Centre plays a two-fold role of providing necessary guidelines and giving financial assistance.
A brief description of the different schemes functioning, at present, is as
under:
Rural Functional Literacy This is a major centrally sponsored scheme under which funds are provid-
Project (RFLP) ed on cent per cent basis, in accordance with the approved financial pattern,
to all the State Governments and Union Territory Administrations. Govern-
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ment has revised the pattern of financial assistance effective from February 1, 1984. The scheme aims at setting up projects upto 300 centres covering one or two contiguous development Blocks in each State/Union Territory and up to 100 centres in hilly areas or areas with difficult terrains in some States. The policy is to cover gradually all districts in the country with one RFLP. At present 452 projects have been sanctioned and all the 243 districts in the country having literacy rates below the national level and 193 districts which have female literacy rates below 20% have been covered. A provision of Rs. 2870 lakhs has been made under this scheme for 1984-85.
In addition to adult education centres sanctioned under the RFLP, State Governments/Union Territory Administrations have also been requested from time to time to step up their own efforts under the State Adult Education Programme (SAEP) and establish at least an equal number of centres, match- ing those sanctioned under RFLP.
According to the monitoring reports received from the State Govern- ments/Union Territory Administrations 50.1 lakhs adult illiterates have been covered under Adult Education Programme during 1984-85 (up to September, 1984) against the specified target of 6.5 million adult illiterates. From the performance of the various States/Union Territory Administra- tions, as seen from the quarterly progress reports, it is expected that the phy- sical target of enrolment will be fully realised.
Strengthening of For ensuring proper implementation of the programme in each State/
Administrative Structures Union Territory, financial assistance is provided to them for continuation/
creation of necessary administrative structures, both at the State and the Dis-
trict level, in accordance with financial pattern approved under the scheme.
A provision of Rs. 218 lakhs has been made under this scheme during
1984-85.
Voluntary Agencies With a view to providing greater participation of Volunatary Agencies in
the programme as visualised in the New 20-Point Programme, this Central
Scheme was revised in April, 1982. Under this scheme, registered Voluntary
Societies having no communal leanings are sanctioned grants for undertak-
ing projects of Functional-Literacy, Post-Literacy, Resource Development,
Publications, Holding of Seminars etc. During 1984-85, 192 Voluntary
Agencies were approved 5965 Adult Education Centres including projects
of Post-Literacy, Publications and Holding of Seminars. A conference of the
Women's Organisations was held under the Chairmanship of the Union Edu-
cation Secretary to discuss their involvement in the Adult Education Pro-
gramme. A provision of Rs. 347 lakhs has been made under this scheme for
1984-85. Since 1982, 455 Voluntary Agencies have been associated with
the programme.
Post-Literacy and This is a centrally sponsored scheme with a budget provision of Rs. 280
Follow-up Programme lakhs in 1984-85. Post-literacy and follow-up programme activities consti-
tute an integral part of the Adult Education Programme. Adequate stress on
these activities has been laid in order to prevent the neo-literates from relaps-
ing into illiteracy and also to reinforce the literacy skills to enrich the daily life
and improve vocational skills etc. A provision of Rs. 180 lakhs has been
made under this scheme for 1984-85.
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Award Scheme for Promoting The Scheme of Awards to States, Districts and Centres for excellent per-
Female Adult Literacy formance in the field of Female Adult Literacy was introduced in 1983-84.
Based on the performance of the States/Union Territories during 1982-83,
awards have been given to (a) 1676 Adult Education Centres for Women
@Rs. 500/- each; (b) 22 districts level awards, each of Rs. 3 lakhs; (c) 5 State
awards each of Rs. 25 lakhs to Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maha-
rashtra and Uttar Pradesh; and (d) 3 awards each of Rs. 8 lakhs to 3 Union
Territories, viz, Chandigarh, Delhi and Pondicherry. The scheme will
continue during 1984-85 for which an amount of Rs. 300.00 lakhs has been
provided.
Shramik Vidyapeeth These Vidyapeeths provide integrated non-formal education training faci-
lities to the workers and their families both in the organised as well as in the
unorganised sectors in the urban areas. Activities of these Vidyapeeths are
polyvalent in nature catering to a wide range of requirements of beneficiaries
and include training and development of skills. At present there are 27
Vidyapeeths including 4 new Vidyapeeths set up during 1984-85. Proposals
to set up 10 more Vidyapeeths are under consideration.
State Resource Centres Keeping in view the need for a strong resource base including a variety of
technical services and support for the programme, the Government has set
up 11 State Resource Centres in different parts of the country which are
being funded by the Ministry. In addition, 4 State Resource Centres set up by
the Universities or the States are also catering to the needs of the pro-
gramme. The major responsibilities of these centres are curriculum formula-
tion; preparation of teaching and learning materials; development of
methods and media; training of functionaries; monitoring and evaluation;
research and innovation. Special Cells set up in four State Resource Centres
continued to develop material for the weaker sectors and the women. The
UGC has agreed, in principle, to set up a State Resource Centre at the North
Eastern Hill University, Shillong to cater to the specific needs of the area. Pro-
posal to set up more State Resource Centres in North Eastern States is also
under consideration. A Working Group was set up to review the functioning
of these centres and suggest improvements including revision of financial
pattern. Report has been received and is under consideration. A provision of
Rs. 35 lakhs has been made under this scheme during 1984-85.
Evaluation An element of evaluation is in-built in the system of Adult Education Pro-
gramme. However, to establish the credibility of the Programme and to
ensure that its quality does not suffer, evaluation of the programme is also
got done from reputed institutions engaged in Social Sciences Research. Till
1983-84, seven institutions were engaged in the work. During 1984-85, nine
evaluation reports were received from the States of Bihar, Gujarat, Maha-
rashtra and Tamil Nadu.
National Board of Follow-up action on the recommendations made by the National Board of
Adult Education Adult Education in its meeting held on November 26, 1983 has been taken
up in collaboration with concerned authorities.
A Conference of the Directors of State Adult Education Directorates and
State Resource Centres was held on April 30 and May 1, 1984 under the
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Chairmanship of the Union Education Secretary to discuss various aspects of
the Adult Education Programme including the review of its progress and the
role of various agencies in achieving the goal of removal of adult illiteracy by
1990.
Visits to and From Abroad Visits were made to Thailand, Indonesia, China, Federal Republic of
Germany, German Democratic Republic, Democratic People's Republic of
Korea, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangla Desh by Indian delegations under vari-
ous programmes of Adult Education, while delegations from Zambia, United
States of America, Norway, Nepal, Germany etc. visited India.
Directorate of The Directorate of Adult Education which serves as the National
Adult Education Resource Centre for the Adult Education Programme has been conducting
various programmes such as (i) Training; (ii) Preparation of teaching-learn-
ing material for illiterates and neo-literates; (iii) monitoring; (iv) evaluation;
(v) population education; (vi) research; and (vii) media support to adult educa-
tion programmes and administration of cultural exchange programmes.
During 1984-85, the Directorate formulated methodology and guidelines
for development of Curriculum and Material, revised 'Naya Kadam' Primer
and Workbook and Numeracy Calligraphy 'AAO Hisab Sikhe', provided
audio-visual equipments to 15 SRC and 4 States; provided play material to
3857 Adult Education Centres and conducted 2 workshops/orientation pro-
grammes of various training functionaries of Adult Education. The Director-
ate also provided technical guidance to Shramik Vidyapeeths, undertook the
preparation of Films, Slides and Video Films on Population Education Pro-
gramme at the National level. In addition, One-year project of population
education is being undertaken in collaboration with UNFPA. Five research
studies have been undertaken.
It is proposed to intensify these programmes during 1985-86 to meet the
increasing needs of the Adult Education Programme.
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