SECTION D : ADULT EDUCATION
Introduction The considered opinions of 20 States and Onion Territories of India in respect of Adult Education have been taken up for analysis. Their suggestions/recommendations cover a wide variety of aspects including priority, organisation and administration, integration, coordination and linkages with similar programmes agencies reaching out of the adults, they use of media, etc. In what follows, a brief overview is provided about the suggestions and recommendations on the diverse aspects and their prominence.
I. Priority
Assam - The programme of adult education should assume the character of a people's movement in which the entire community participates apotaneously.
- The public and private sector undertakings should be motivated to organise, their own adult education programmes to eradicate illiteracy among the employees within a specified period of time.
- In each block, all potential educational institutes and their students should be regularly involved in adult education programmes so as to motivate the adult education
- Adult education should be turned into a mass movement.
Orissa - Removal of illiteracy among the adult illiterates in the age group 16-35 is a programme of national priority.
- Adult education programme should be treated as an adjunct to the programme of Universalisation of elementary education. The programme of adult education must seek to create the required motivation for enrolment and retention in the elementary sector.
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- Higher priority should be accorded to literacy and educational programme for women in order to create a demand for education generally aria particularly for girls.
- In the adult education programme, highest priority must be accorded to the programmes for women.
- Adult literacy programme for women should be given higher priority than programmes exclusively for men.
Rajasthan - The rational adult education programme deserves to be given high priority in terms of political will, financial allocation and effective linkages with various developmental programmes. It is high time that adult education is made a national commitment at par with family planning and afforestation programmes.
Pondicherry - Out of 402 districts in the country, 243 have a literacy level lower than the national level. So, initially, greater efforts should be made in these districts to bring them on par with the other parts of the country in the matter of literacy.
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II. Integration
Haryana - Non-formal and adult education programmes should be integrated to achieve universal coverage under 15-35 age group.
Himachal Pradesh - Adult education centres should be attached to Balwadis, Mahila Mandals, Panchayats and other institutions. Besides these Himachal Pradesh also advocates reduction of the, requisite number of students from 30 to 20 or 25 at least for hilly areas.
- There should be coordination between various departments like health, family welfare, agriculture ..... so that the platform used by them ...... are also used for Adult Education Programmes.
Madhya Pradesh - Universalisation of elementary education and adult education are closely related and complementary. The entire gamut of adult and elementary education should, therefore, be placed under one umbrella.
- There should be a close coordination of adult education programmes with all other developmental activities and more particularly with the family welfare programmes.
Nagaland - Integrate adult education programme into educational institutions society.
Rajasthan - Instead of being confined to the Education Department, it (adult education programme) should be made the responsibility of a larger cross-section of society.
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III. Coordination between Adult Education and Developmental
Agencies/Departments
Orissa - Removal of illiteracy objectives can only be achieved through the active and coordinated involvement of different agencies of government and mass movement with active involvement.
Rajasthan - Besides unifying the organisational set up adult and formal. There should be better and more effective coordination between the formal educational set-up and the adult education wing.
Arunachal Pradesh - The Development Department like Agriculture, Health, Industries, Veterniary and Animal Husbandary etc. should come forward with their inputs and technical know-how to increase productivity of the people and widen the sphere of their knowledge.
Pondicherry - Today, Adult Education Programmes are undertaken by four agencies: (i) central Government, (ii) State Governments, (iii) UGC/Universities/Colleges, and (iv) Voluntary agencies.
- At the Government level, Adult Education Programme should be the responsibility of atmost all depepartments, not the responsibility of Educational Department alone. Each occupational groups should be looked after by the various departments like agriculture, fisheries, labour education social welfare, industries, etc. The responsibility of achieving the target should be fixed on each department.
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IV. Appointment of Instructors, their Training, Remuneration
Haryana - Permanent appointment of adult education instructors should be based upon their training. Instructors should be given respectable remuneration.
Himachal Pradesh - Only properly qualified and trained staff should be appointed. Adult Education Instructors should be trained in other vocations also so that they can give vocational training to those whom they are teaching and help them to supplement their income.
Meghalaya - Training and incentive should be given to the instructors.
Orissa - Keeping in view the new tasks of the adult education centres and the changed role which the instructors have to play, the need for a systematic training of Instructors and supervisors can not be over emphasised.
Delhi - Training and orientation programmes for adult education teachers, volunteers should be organised.
Uttar Pradesh - The honorarium of instructors should be enhanced and adult and non-formal education to be brought together both for instruction and supervision.
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V. Responsibility of Employers
Orissa - It should be a legal obligation on the part of employers in the organised sector to make available facilities for adult education within their promises, without any loss of wages, for illiterate markers and workers' families.
Rajasthan - Appropriate legislation should be enacted for making employers in the organized and semi-organized sectors responsible for providing functional literacy to illiterate employees within a period of 3 years of their employment.
Arunachal Pradesh - The employers should be made responsible for imparting education of desired standard to their illiterate employees.
- Industrialists and employers have great responsibility in motivating workers and organising adult education centres.
- Officers of the Directorate of Education should adopt some village for adult education programme.
Pondicherry - Literacy education for workers in industries should become an obligation, of the employers. Industrial Relation Act and similar legislation should be amended to this effect.
- Trade Unions, Agricultural Workers' Unions and similar organisations should make adult illiteracy programme am of their objectives.
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VI. Involvement of Students, Teachers,
Universities, Voluntary Agencies
Bihar - Agencies of Non-formal and adult education will have to reorganise their activities in order to establish a larger number of vocational schools for women with the active involvement the community to adult education and non formal education.
Haryana - Students, teachers, employees of public and private undertakings should involve themselves in adult education programmes. Voluntary agencies should also involved under proper supervision.
Arunachal Pradesh - The students read upto Class VIII who are not in any permanent job can also be engaged in running such centres in their own localities.
- Universities and colleges should play a more effective role in the adult education and instead of running some centres, they should undertake greater responsibilities in the areas of curriculum development, material preparation, researches, studies and evaluation of the programme.
Manipur - School teachers should be involved in the programme of adult and non-formal education instead of appointing fresh instructors.
- Adult education programme should involve Students, NSS, retired govt. personnel and use of mass media.
Nagaland - In respect of Adult Education Nagaland recommends it should include participation of voluntary organisations teachers students and other development sectors.
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- The local community should be closely associated with the management and functioning of the centre for Community education.
- It would be necessary to involve the college and university students in a big way in the Adult Education programme.
Sikkim - Educational department should list out NEE/AE centre constituency-wise so that the responsibility of efficient running of these centres could be entrusted to the Honourable members of the Sikkim legislature.
- The responsibility of education, to those who could not benefit from the formal education should also be shouldered by voluntary agencies.
Uttar Pradesh - Participation in adult education should become compulsory for boys and girls at the under graduate level.
Delhi - Educated unemployed youth/retired persons/educated house wives should be involved in adult education programme.
- There should be a separate directorate of adult education in the state.
- There should be concerted and co-oridnated effort of politicians, administrators, planners, media-organisers, education experts and community workers in organising and implementing adult education programmes.
Pondicherry - The help of village panchayats should be called in motivating the illiterates and retaining them in the programme for the required duration. The assistance given by the Government to Panchayats should be linked with their involvement in Adult Education Programme.
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- Every university/college students and every government servant may be asked to make at least two illiterates literate within a period of two years.
- Literacy is the first step towards liberation for the illiterate and poor masses. So political parties and influential individual should instil this into the minds of the poor classes.
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VII. Linking AE with Development Programme
Assam - Adult Education programmes should be linked to developmental activities of various departments.
- It is important to link adult education with other developmental programmes as success of activities like rural develoment, agriculture, family welfare, small savings and all national develoment activities critically hinges on the success of adult education programmes.
Meghalay - Adult education should continue to be coordinated with other development departments.
Uttar Pradesh - The adult education programmes should be in coordination with other income generating programmes like IRDP, NREP, TRYSEM etc.
Delhi - UEE should be linked with integrated child development schemes and integrated rural development programmes.
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VIII. Use of Mass Media
Gujarat - In the field of adult education, it is felt that there is a need for a new technology. Computer assisted language learning is a new methodology available and in the field of adult education a breakthrough may now be possible with both TV and Computer coming to the aid of the instruction.