Adult Education & Quality of Life: Academic, #1

By DR. MEENU SHARMA

This book 'Adult Education and Quality of Life' addresses the relevance of adult education in the context of quality of life. Quality of life is defined in the framework of three components - empowerment, sustainable livelihood and life skill, which have not been studied explicitly. Consequently, the review in this book provides the foundation for the conceptualization of the theoretical framework and conceptual meaning of all three parameters. This book also provides theories and conceptual meaning of Adult Education and Quality of Life. As this book is extracted from the author's research work, therefore, later part of this book describes the research design, method of procedure of research tool construction, data collection, analysis and interpretation. The methodology followed during the research study includes survey research of two selected areas .i.e. urban and rural areas of the Ajmer District in Rajasthan. The research study envisages the benefits drawn by individual learners and all members of the community in the selected areas. In addition to field surveys, policy documents of the National Literacy Mission, reports of the Government were also studied to understand the provision of Adult Education in the State of Rajasthan. Policy implications and recommendations for future researches are also illustrated in this book. The result of this research study indicates as literacy is the first step for achieving anything in life. This research work has signified that Adult Education has improved the Quality of Life of Neo-literates, especially for women. It is instrumental in bringing changes in less-tangible factors, such as personal dignity, freedom and the extent of participation in society, highlighted in this book.    

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Author Tree Publishing
• Release date: Aug 13, 2021
• ISBN: 9789391078430

Book preview

Chapter I

Introduction

The Context

Adult Education has undergone tremendous changes in terms of policy, programme and practice during the last two decades. These changes at many times have been undertaken without sufficient feedback from the field. The Adult Education programme is directly related to people and their problems. It promotes self-reliance, confidence, knowledge and awareness among people so that they can solve their problems. It also helps in reducing poverty, enhancing economic condition, to fight with difference, to have power over decree, improving living standard and Quality of Life of people. Therefore, importance of research in Adult Education has been constantly stressed in educational policy documents and discourses from time to time.

The United Nations Literacy Decade (UNLD, 2003–2012) has reached its mid-point, with initiatives and policy shifts which provide a stronger basis for action on literacy now and in the future. The rise in the global adult literacy rate (15+) from 76 to 83.6 per cent over the last two decades shows steady progress, with the rates in developing countries showing an even sharper rise from 68 to 79 per cent. The Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE) has given new impetus to efforts in countries of high literacy needs.

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However, progress overall is not enough to meet the 2015 Education for All goal of halving illiteracy rates.¹

In Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012), Government of India put forward the idea of expanding the scope of Adult Education as Lifelong Learning introducing it as Lifelong Education and Awareness Program (LEAP).

However, it also reveals that research on Adult Education has been one of the weakest areas that need to pick up in momentum. Recently, Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-17), promoted Adult Literacy with Saakshar Bharat Mission as a main vehicle with focus on districts having rate 50 percent adult female literacy or below, on women, SC/ST and minorities covering all Educationally Backward Blocks (EBBS).

According to the Census 2011, the overall literacy rate has increased from 64.8 per cent in 2001 to 74.0 per cent in 2011 in country. Improvement in female literacy has been more rapid than male literacy and the gender gap has declined to 16.7 percentage points in 2011 from 21.6 percentage points in 2001. The mean years of schooling of the working age population (over 15 years) increased from 4.2 years in 2000 to 5.12 years in 2010.²

Since the origin of National Literacy Mission, India has witnessed several remarkable changes in the sector of Adult Education in age group of 15-35 years through its campaigns mode to tackle the problem of illiteracy.

The first nation-wide attempt at eradication of illiteracy was made through the National Adult Education Programme launched on October 2, 1978.

¹Richmond,M.,Robinson,C., & Sachs-Israel,M.,(eds.).(2008).The Global literacy challenge A profile of youth and adult literacy at the mid-point of the United Nations Literacy Decade 2003 – 2012.

2Planning Commission (2011).Faster, Sustainable and More Inclusive Growth, An Approach to the Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-17).GOI

The objectives of the National Adult Education Programme were not merely to impart literacy in conventional sense, but also to provide learners with functional awareness, which implied the ability to utilize and apply the skills acquired with a view to promote efficiency of the Neo-literates.³ For example, literacy helps one to find a job, or aware people about their rights, or to open a bank account, or even gives access to health services and so on.

In 1988, National Literacy Mission (NLM) was launched in our country. The National Education Policy-1986, as modified in 1992, also has recognized National Literacy Mission as one of the instruments to eradicate illiteracy from the country.

Hence the Total Literacy Campaign (TLC) has become the principal strategy of the National Literacy Mission (NLM) for eradication of illiteracy after the success of campaign mode in Ernakulam district of Kerala. However, after five or six years, it was clear that TLC and PLC were inadequate when it came to making learners reach a self-reliant level in their acquisition of literacy. Additionally, it also proved to be inadequate when it came to the application of literacy in day-to-day activities and as a tool for learning on a continuous basis. It was realized that a system of an institutionalized setup of Continuing Education (CE) was the only answer.

This is one reason why TLC was seen in the early nineties, as a pre-requisite for Post-Literacy and Continuing Education phase.

As literacy graduated from one stage to another — from basic literacy to post-literacy and continuing education stages — the NLM perception and approach also began to emerge with greater clarity about the objectives of each phase and its inter-relationship to the continuum of adult and continuing education. Initially these phases could not be seen as a part of an inter-related continuum with any level of clarity.

³www.teindia.nic.in/mhrd/50yrsedu/y/3T/9U/3T9U0201.html

A separate Continuing Education phase was felt necessary and was introduced in 1996. Thus, providing learning opportunities on a continuous basis and improving the living conditions as well as Quality of Life of the people — especially Neo-literates — became a major agenda of NLM under the Continuing Education Programme. Several innovations on combining literacy with life and livelihood skills have brought about convergence of different departments and agencies within and outside the government to improve the Quality of Life of Neo- literates and beneficiaries of Continuing Education Programmes.

Consequent upon the review of the twodecades of NLM, a renewed programme of Saakshar Bharat was introduced in 2009which further reiterated the national commitment to literacy specially female literacybesides widening the scope of the programme, giving a key role to Gramsabha inimplementation and making certain changes in the staffing pattern andstreamlining funding mechanism and monitoring.⁴

Saakshar Bharat Missionwas launched by The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh on International Literacy Day in New Delhi on September 2009.

The mission of Saakshar Bharat has been addressed by Smt. D. Purandeswari. She has reaffirmed the value of education and literacy.

The cause of education is indeed a worthy one. Education empowers, liberates and ennobles. Education helps nations to march forward, helps them to progress socially and economically.

In our efforts to remove persistent hunger, poverty and disease, education is a very valuable instrument. And literacy is the first step in imparting education.

⁴Shah, S.Y.( 1999) : An Encyclopaedia of Indian Adult Education, New Delhi: National Literacy Mission, Directorate of Adult Education, Ministry of Adult Human Resource Development, Department of Education, Government of India

Literacy is central to the success of all these programmes and initiatives; female literacy is especially so. Female literacy is a force multiplier for all action for social development. This is self- evident and does not require any elaboration.In fact, many observers have seen infrastructure development in the economic sector and female literacy in the social sector as two very critical factors that impede India’s steady climb to a higher and sustainable level of growth and development. Female literacy is also absolutely necessary to empower the Indian woman in her every day struggle in dealing with multiple deprivations on the basis of class, caste and gender.

The Saakshar Bharat Mission reaffirms the national commitment to literacy. The mission seeks to raise literacy levels, especially among women, in a phased manner.

The President of India, Smt. Partibha Patil also announced that the government will recast the National Literacy Mission to make every woman literate in the next five years. The Self Help Group movement will be encouraged and expanded by restructuring and revitalizing the Rashtriya Mahila Kosh. Therefore a National Mission for Empowerment of women was set up. It aims to further promote and strengthen Adult Education, specially of women, by extending educational options to those adults who lost the opportunity of access to formal education and crossed the standard age for receiving such as education, including, literacy, basic education (equivalency to formal education) and vocational education (skill development).

Meaning and Concept of Adult Education

The concept of Adult Education has undergone an impressive evolution across the ages. It has acquired a huge number of synonyms and alternative names subject to cultural and ecological changes from country to country, and during different periods, within the same country. Some of the most laudable nomenclatures are ‘Recurrent education’ in U.S.A., ‘Continuing education’ in undivided USSR, Australia and New Zealand, ‘Social education’ in India, Japan, Korea, ‘Further education’ in the UK., ‘Non-formal education’ in Indonesia, and ‘Adult Education’ in China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India. The term Adult Education was first coined in England in the early Nineteenth century. The term Adult Education has come into the general use for the past fifty years. It identifies two different but related phenomena: a field of social activity and an emerging discipline in social sciences.

In 1997, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Social, and Cultural Organization) has pronounced it as ‘Youth and Adult Education’. Adult Education is a broad-based concept that usually refers to the structured and purposeful education and training of adults that may be carried out by a number of organizations.

It is an activity or programme deliberately designed by providing an instrument to satisfy the learning needs