ADULT EDUCATION
 

17.01 Education does not end with schooling but it is a life- long process. The adult today has need of an understanding of the rapidly changing world and the growing complexities of society. Even those who have had the most sophisticated education must continue to learn; the alternative is obsolescence.

17.02 One of the major planks in the strategy of a society which is determined to achieve economic development, social transformation and effective social security should be to educate its citizens to participate in its developmental programmes willingly, intelligently and efficiently. This is particularly urgent in a society in which masses of people have missed schooling and in which the education given has been irrelevant to the development needs. The farmer who tills the soil or the worker who turns the machine must understand the nature of the soil and the machine and acquire some acquaintance with the scientific processes involved in production in order to be able to adopt new practices and improve upon them. Mere persuasion or coercion cannot arrest population growth; people must understand the implications of unchecked increase in population, acquire some knowledge of the laws of life and appreciate individual responsibility in programmes of family planning. No nation can leave its security only to the police and the army; to a large extent national security depends upon the education of citizens, their knowledge of affairs, their character and sense of discipline and their ability to participate effectively in security measures.

17.03 Thus viewed, the function of adult education in a democracy is to provide every adult citizen with an opportunity for education of the type which he wishes and which he should have for his personal enrichment, professional advancement and effective participation in social and political life.

17.04 In normal conditions, programmes of adult education presume universal literacy. In the Indian context 70 per cent of the people are unable to read and write and, naturally, liquidation of illiteracy becomes a matter of immediate national concern.

17.05 The scope of adult education is wide: as wide as life itself. Its requirements are somewhat different from those of the normal school system. it depends upon the support it receives from several agencies, particularly the universities and public institutions and libraries. The

17.08 ADULT EDUCATION 779

effectiveness of the programmes of adult education depends upon a competent administrative machinery.

17.06 An effective programme of adult education in the Indian context should envisage the following:

- liquidation of illiteracy;

- continuing education;

- correspondence courses;

- libraries;

- role of universities in adult education; and

- organization and administration of adult education.

We shall discuss these in the present chapter.

LIQUIDATION OF ILLITERACY

17.07 The Need for Action. India was more non-literate in 1961 than in 1951, with an addition of about 36 million non-literates. In 1966, it has 20 million more non-literates than in 1961. This has happened despite unprecedented expansion of primary education and despite many literacy drives and programmes. Though the percentage of literacy has risen from 16.6 per cent in 1951 to 24 per cent in 1961 and 28.6 per cent in 1966, a faster growth of population has pushed the country further behind in its attempts to reach universal literacy. The moral is obvious conventional methods of hastening literacy are of poor avail. If the trend is to be reversed, a massive unorthodox national effort is necessary.

17.08 The price which the individual as well as the nation pays for illiteracy is high, although one grows accustomed to the persisting malady and becomes insensitive to the harm it does. The circumstances of modern fife condemn the non-literate to live an inferior existence. He has little prospect of a reasonable income. He remains isolated from sophisticated social processes, such as democratic government and commercial marketing, The uneducated is not in reality a free citizen. Illiteracy as a mass phenomenon blocks economic and social progress, affects economic productivity, population control, national integration and security and improvement in health and sanitation. In the words of Prof. V. K. R. V. Rao, Member, Planning Commission, Without adult education and adult literacy, it is not possible to have that range and speed of economic and social development which we require, nor is it possible to have that content, or,quality or tone to our economic and social development that makes it worth while in terms of values and welfare. A programme of adult education and adult literacy should

780 EDUCATION AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 17.09

therefore take a front place in any programme for economic and social development.*2011

17.09 There can be little disagreement with the above general statements which, in one way or another, were recognized even before Independence. But the principal strategy adopted so far to make the people literate has been to place an exclusive emphasis on the development of a programme of free and compulsory education for all children till they reach the age of 14 years. If this could have been effectively implemented by 1960, as once visualized, the problem would have been considerably simplified. However, for reasons which have been examined elsewhere, it has not yet been possible to implement the programme and we can at best hope to provide five years of effective education to every child by 1976 and of seven years by 1986. Moreover, the system of primary education continues to be largely ineffective and wasteful and many children who pass through it either do not attain functional literacy or lapse into illiteracy soon afterwards. If we are to continue our dependence on this programme alone for the liquidation of illiteracy, we may not reach our goal even by 2000 A.D. It is, therefore, evident that, while our efforts to develop a programme of free and compulsory education should continue with redoubled vigour, a time has come when a massive and direct attack on mass illiteracy is necessary.

17.10 This is not to say that no direct attack on mass illiteracy has been launched so far. In fact, the history of adult education during the last thirty years shows that many literacy drives have been organized on a State or a local basis, which were launched with considerable drive and enthusiasm but which petered out in apathy and dissipated efforts a few years later. There are several reasons for this. The campaigns were too limited in scale to achieve a significant advance and generate enthusiasm for further effort. They also tended to be sporadic and uncoordinated-government departments, voluntary agencies, educational institutions and individuals working more in isolation than in active collaboration with other agencies. They were often launched hastily, without the careful assessment of the needs and interests of adults, without awakening public interest or stimulating the desire to learn and without adequate provision for the follow-up work in the absence of which no lasting results could be obtained. It is, therefore, not surprising that they failed.

17.11 Sustained support and purposeful orientation of literacy programmes depend upon conscious acceptance of certain basic facts. For instance, it should be accepted that the pace of industrialization and modernization of agriculture and in general of the economic progress of

208*Dr. V. K. R. V. Rao, Education and Human Resource Development, Allied Publishers, New Delhi, 1966.

17.12 ADULT EDUCATION 781

the country is inhibited by the large number of non-literates who constitute the `work-force'. Assuming that the age-group 15-44 constitutes the work force, it includes 144 millions of persons or 67.4 per cent of the age-group who are non-literate. Further, non- literate people tend to resist change and cling to traditional forms of life, while modernization of social life demands revolutionary changes in the accepted pattern. Illiteracy among the masses is inconsistent with the spirit of the age in which scientific and technical progress determines the way of life and standards of living. New ideas and new practices cannot be effectively communicated to minds which are untrained to receive them and to make use of them. Whether it is family planning or improvement of sanitary standards or any programme of social security or any move which require change of attitude and habits of life, it must make sense to the people. Similarly, it should be realized that uneducated people cannot make a real democracy, the essence of which lies in participation by the people in organized civic life and in important decision-making. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 26 of which states that every one has a right to education, applies equally to the adults of the future as to those of the present. The existence of the vast masses of non literate people in our country which prides itself on its noble traditions of learning, is humiliating. These are simple and self-evident facts which are seldom disputed. It is, however, necessary to realize that an effort commensurate with the magnitude of the task of eradication of Illiteracy is inconceivable unless there is a clear conviction on the part of the national leadership that the education of the masses of non-literates has a direct bearing on economic and social progress and on the quality of national life. Lack of conviction is evident from the fact that so far there has been no political commitment to any programme of adult education. This may be due to some extent to the magnitude of the problem. The numbers involved are so great, resources demanded in terms of finance and trained personnel so apparently enormous, that there is a natural tendency, particularly in the face of the competing priorities, to give up the goal as unattainable and to leave the solution to time and to the development of universal primary education. This attitude is unhelpful. We think that the problem must be faced resolutely and realistically and we are convinced that indifference to it will not remain unpunished.

17.12 To put an end to this intolerable situation, we recommend a nationwide, coherent and sustained campaign despite lack of resources in view of the urgency of the problem. The campaign should be inspired by a faith in its vital significance to national life and should be organized and supported vigorously by the social and political leadership in the country. It should involve the

782 EDUCATION AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 17.13

Central, State and Local governments, all governmental agencies, all voluntary agencies and private organizations and industries, all edu- cational institutions ranging from the universities to primary schools and, above all, all educated men and women in the country. A lesser effort will fail to generate the necessary motivation and build up effective momentum. The task is enormously difficult. It requires a spirit of dedication, imaginative organization, intelligent cooperation of all agencies involved and ungrudging effort and sacrifice on the part of the workers. However, the task can be achieved; it was achieved in the USSR immediately after the Revolution. The determined Russian effort gained for the country much more than mere universal literacy. It gave the people a sense of achievement and national pride and prepared it for participation in social transformation. The situation in India is somewhat different, but a mighty effort similar to the Russian will be an educational experience of great national significance.

17.13 The Targets. The essential condition for success in a literacy programme is that it should be very carefully planned and that all necessary preparations should be made well ahead in time. Organization of massive programmes, preparation of material, training of personnel and a number of other requisites require time. We do not visualize launching a nationwide programme in all parts of the country at the same time. It is, however, possible to proceed systematically from area to area in each State according to the opportunities available and gradually to cover the entire State and the country. it will be possible to achieve full literacy in different areas at different times depending upon the stage of educational development in the area, public cooperation and efficiency of organization. Time is an essential factor in combating illiteracy and a delay of more than 10 or 15 years in liquidating the problem on a massive scale will defeat its very purpose. We think that with well-planned efforts it should be possible to raise the national percentage of literacy to 60 per cent by 1971 and to 80 per cent in 1976. These targets will no doubt require tremendous effort and or organization; but they are not impracticable. We recommend that every possible effort should be made to eradicate illiteracy from the country as early as possible and that in no part of the country, however backward,should it take more than 20 years to do so.

17.14 The Concept of Literacy. We do not equate literacy with the mere ability to read and write. Literacy, if it is to be worth while, must be functional. It should enable the literate not only to acquire sufficient mastery over the tools of literacy but also to acquire relevant knowledge which will enable him to pursue his own interests

17.15 ADULT EDUCATION 783

and ends. The World Conference of Education Ministers on the Eradication of Illiteracy organized by UNESCO at Teheran (1965) concluded that rather than an end in itself, literacy should be regarded as a way of preparing man for a social, civic and economic role that goes far beyond the limits of rudimentary literacy training, consisting merely in the teaching of reading and writing. The process of learning to read and write should be made an opportunity for acquiring information that can immediately be used to improve living standards; reading and writing should lead not only to elementary general knowledge but to training for work, increased productivity, a greater participation in civil life, a better understanding of the surrounding world and should, ultimately, open the way to basic human culture. We agree with the view taken by the Conference. Literacy programmes should inspire and enable the adult to use his knowledge of literacy for his own further education and encourage him to profit by the scheme of continuing education which we propose to discuss subsequently. Thus viewed, literacy programmes should have three essential ingredients.

(1) It must be, as far as possible,`work-based' and aimed at creating attitudes and interests and imparting skills and information which will help a person to do efficiently whatever work he is engaged in.

(2) It must help the non-literate to interest himself in vital national problems and to participate effectively in the social and political life of the country.

(3) It must impart such skills in reading, writing and arithmetic as would enable him, if he so wishes, to continue his education either on his own or through other available avenues of informal education.

It follows that literacy programmes will have three stages. The initial stage will consist of acquaintance with reading, writing and arithmetic and some general knowledge relating to civic and national problems in which the entire society is involved and to the profession in which the learner is engaged. The second stage should deepen the knowledge and skills gained in the initial stage and train the adult in using literacy gained for solving personal problems and enriching personal life. The third stage should- lead the adult to one of the programmes of continuing education.

17.15 Programmes for Arresting the Growth of Illiteracy. The first step to liquidate illiteracy should be to arrest the swelling of the numbers of non-literates by

- expansion of universal schooling of at least five years' duration as rapidly as possible to the age-group 6-11;

784 EDUCATION AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 17.16

- providing part-time education to those children of the age-group 11-14 who either missed schooling or dropped prematurely out of the school;and

- providing part-time general and vocational education to young adults of the age-group 15-30 who have received some years of schooling but insufficient to carry them to a stage of permanent literacy or to prepare them adequately for the demands made on them by their environment.

17.16 In Chapter VII we considered programmes for the reali- zation of universal primary education for the age-group 6-11. We have also recommended provision of part-time education of one year's duration for the age-group 11-14 on a voluntary basis to start with but with the hope of making it compulsory later when suitable conditions are created. We also consider it necessary that these facilities should be extended to those in the age-group 15+whose schooling has been inadequate. These steps, combined with the extension of school facilities and improvement in the holding power of the schools, as proposed elsewhere, must form the base of a fight against illiteracy.