No. 46 ADULT EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

by EoXo Townsend Coles

Unesco : International Institute for Educational Planning

No. 46 ADULT EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

by EoKo Townsend Coles

HEP/TM/46/70

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATIONAL PLANNING 9л rue Eugene-Delaeroix

Paris, l6es Prance

ADULT EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES by

EoKo Townsend Coles University of Oxford

Delegacy for Extra-Mural Studies

This lecture is part ©f 'Fundamentals of Educational Planning ; Lecture-Discussion Series" a controlled experiment undertaken by the International Institute for Educational Planning in collaboration with a limited number ©f organisations and individuals aiming at the development of efficient teaching materials in the field of educational planning0 By their very nature these materials,, which draw upon tape recordings, transcriptions and summary n©tes of seminarss lectures and discussions conducted by HEP as part of its training and research programme, are informal and not subject to the type of editing customary for published documents. They are therefore not to be considered as sofficial publications"c

The opinions expressed in this lecture are those of th© author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Institute„

The use, adaptation or reproduction, in whole or in part of these materials is limited to institutions and persons specifically authorized by IIEPo

i

IIEP/TM/46/70

TABIE DES MATIERES Pages

I« Adult Education 1

2о The Content of Adult Education 2

3o Administrative and Educational Problems 7

4» Conclusion 11

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The purpose of this paper is to consider adult education in the context of the series of lectures on the development of the content of educational programmes and curricula, The paper will be divided into three main sections * First we shall have to agree on what is embraced by the term adult education. This will be followed by an examination of the programmes which are included within this définitiorii and finally we shall look at some of the problems, educational and administrative» which all this raises.

1* Adult Education

In recent years there has been an abundance of pronouncements from statesmen« politicians^ educationists and other leaders in public life of the importance of adult education^ The representative of the Director-General of Unesco* at the Regional Conference on the Planning and Organisation of literacy programmes in Africa at Abidjan in 1964 said̂ , 'it is not the children of today who hold the present destiny of Africa in their handss it is the adults., ño it is only by establishing effective communication with the adult population, by helping them to adjust to a rapidly changing world that an immediate impact can be made on the urgent problems of society and essential progress be brought about* Africa cannot wait a generation to mobilise its rich human resources for tasks of national development9.

More recently Mr, R.S. McNamara, President of the World Bank Groups

in an address said, VI express the hope that over the period of our Five-Year programmej we could improve the balance between the capital available for physical development and the trained human resources required to use that capital efficiently, To that end we plan to increase our lending in this field of education at least threefold1. Later he asserted that ?too rarely is full attention given to modern science^ useful technology or practical agriculture * and he specifically called for 'greater attention to functional literacy for adults in those countries where the growing pool of adult illiterates constitutes a serious obstacle to development'.

Yet despite pronouncements of this kind from acknowledged world leaders, it has to be admitted that the education of adults is still accorded a very lew priority in many countriess so much so that even in the reports of educational planning commissions it often warrants no more than passing mention,, How is it that what is accepted as being important - even by such organisations as the World Bank - has apparently made so little impact?

The former Director of this Institute touches on this in the preface to the book on 'Planning Non-Formal Education in Tanzania' by Jane King« Paraphrasing the famous remark of Mark Twain about the weather to read 'everyone agrees that adult education is a good idea but no one has done anything about it 'he suggests that 'the logic is clear and compelling for extending educa» tional planning beyond the schools and universities to include such develop­ment oriented activities as special training for farmers and industrial

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workers » in-service training for teachers and civil servants and work-oriented literacy programmes. But 'despite the good reasons £:>r planning non-formal education^ the practical difficulties in doing so are formidablec This is what makes it an important frontier of educational planning which urgently requires attention-. Two factors stand out in explaining the special difficulties of planning non-formal educations one concerns its very nature, the other its organisational and administrative forms ' ..

How then are we to define adult education? Unfortunately it is a term which is used differently throughout the world* We could have a discussion on> say, primary schooling and all would know what was under consideration. There would be differences between each of us, but these would be about details, and not about the nature of the subject itself. This is not so of adult education, I recall situations where adult education and adult literacy were regarded as synonymous terras ; and others where adult education was regarded as the preserve of universities! and others still where adult education referred only to non-vocational activities. There is no universal definition of the term though fortunately, during the past few years., there has been a greater degree of uniformity, For preference I like to use the Norwegian definition that "adult education is all education which is not part of the first formal schooling', Ï like this definition because it is straightforward and does not invoke philosophical concepts,. It is all-embracing and makes no distinction between vocational and non-vocational, formal and informala I think possiblyJthe word •organised'1 might be inserted before education to imply that when discussing adult education each chance educative moment in life is not being included, but only those acts which have been purposefully planned.

It must be stated., however, that this definition presents those in the developing countries with a particular problem. It is comparatively simple to talk of post-school activities in situations where all enjoy formal instruction up to a certain age. In many European countries., for instance, all children remain in school up to 14, 15 or 16 years of age and activities classed as adult education are for those over this minimum leaving age. But in the countries we are considering many children will not find places in schools» and others will receive formal, instruction only for a year or so. Does the adult educationist have to include within his rubric work for such children? Clearly there can be no fixed rule of universal application about this but it would seem reasonable to assume that adult education includes work only for those who would not be classified as children.,

2 - The Content of Adult_Education

In the preface, referred to earlier> Mr, Coombs later describes non-formal education (adult education) as ?a motley collection of relatively i 11-defined, unstandardized and unrelated activities, each aimed at quite a different goal'. There should be no surprise at this, Adult education is concerned with the educational needs of men and women in ail their rich

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Aims will be as diverse as these needs, and any attempt to try to define them too neatly will be doomed to failure*

Nevertheless, it is possible, in all communities, to be able to discern some major groupings and to consider in general terms the kind of educational provision required« There is no danger in doing this so long as it is always remembered that within each group there may be considerable variations between individuals* It also pre-supposes that adult educa­tionists , with the help of other specialists, are making continuing appraisals of the aspirations of the potential learners.

In most countries with which we are interested there will be a large section of the population which is illiterate either because they have never had the opportunity of learning to read or write or having once learnt have lost these skills, There will be another group who have had some primary schooling, but insufficient to enable them5 with confidence, to face an increasingly competitive worldj others who have had some secondary schooling and others still who have enjoyed a period of higher education* The take-off point for each of these groups is different, and it is essential that appropriate forms of adult education should be available to provide the nourishment required by each* Diagramatically this can be shown as follows 1 (the figures are hypothetical)s

Years of formal education

25 50 75

Percentage of adult population

100

Of course., though the take-off point is different for each group,, it does not follow that groups keep rigidly separatee In some branches of adult edu° cation the amount of formal schooling is not necessarily an important criteria! furthermore whilst some will take advantage of facilities offered^ others may nots and consequently there will be a good deal of cross movement between these groups..

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Despite this great disparity in backgrounds and thus of specific require­ments of the potential learners, it is possible to discern certain major forns of adult education so that perhaps the 'motley collection" need not be as 'ill-defined' as is so often the case. Men and women should be encouraged to improve themselves both as economic and as social beings, This necessitates three forms of adult education being made available, and these can be conveniently labelled vocational education, general education and citizen traininga These three strands are closely inter-wovens each supports the others, and individuals will have need of each in different ways and at different times in their lives. But essentially adult educationists should be concerned to see that suitable programmes are available in all three,

The actual content of each will vary between countries> and indeed between parts of countries* as well as from time to time. As in all branches of education5 programme or curriculum should not be allowed to become fosil= ised, but should be constantly open to revision to meet the changing needs of individuals and the requirements of countries and regions, And herein lies one of the greatest problems confronting adult educationists in devel° oping countries» namely* how to satisfy both the aspirations of individual men and women and the needs of society as a wholet For in countries where issues relating to national development are of overriding importance and where the resources to meet these situations aré severely limited* it is inevitable that priorities will have to be established in adult educations and in so doing the expressed needs of individuals relegated to a secondary position. It is, however, worth remembering the caveat that adults are mature people with minds of their own; if "chair personal aspirations have to be constantly sublimated for the greater national good they should have the situation explained to them0 This will encourage greater understanding of the issues involved and lead somes if not most* to become willing eo=operators in schemes of adult education rather than frustrated and disillusioned bystanders, Vocational education covers a wide diversity of activities.. In many countries the most significant are those associated with agriculture,, mainly for men, and homecraft, for women4 These are the two areas of human effort demanding urgent attention.

It is possible for people to be unable even to read and irrite .and still live reasonably contented lives so long as they can produce sufficient food and protect themselves from the hazards of disease and climate, This is not in any sense to underestimate the importance of literacy work (which itself is a branch of vocational education for many) but rather to stress the vital significance of agricultural extension and health education.

It ifould not be possible to list all the activities to be included in vocational education. A catalogue has to be made for each country, In urban areas vocational education will be largely concerned with technical

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skills associated with industry and commerce, and in all countries there will be a need for facilities to ensure an adequate compliment of administrators (at various levels), civil servants in a host of categories, nurses and doctors, and of course, teachers and others associated with education0

Vocational education is the branch of adult education most readily espoused by governments0 The eaise for improving skills and techniques is so obvious and compelling it does not need to be ma.de to be acceptedc Since much of this is work requiring considerable resources, care will have to be taken over the selection of those permitted to participate«, Numbers will have to be regulated according to likely needs and the ability to provide appropriate facilities с A danger is that the two other branches of adult education may suffer from neglect, and this is likely to have undesirable effectsc

Adam Curie, in 'Educational Strategy for Developing Societies' writes of the lack, in developing countries., of an educated citizenry to form1 the necessary robust framework within which development can take place'0 If this 'robust framework8 is to be established and maintained, vocational education must be supported by other forms of adult education, namely general education and citizen trainingu

General education is that branch of adult education which enables men and women to make up the formal education they have been denied, usually through no fault of their own. It can be described as a ladder of improvement which starts at the most basic level - that of learning to read and write to understand simple numeracy - and which extends, in school terminology, to the upper levels of secondary educationc Men and women may join the ladder at any appropriate stage and proceed up it as far as their capabilities will allow* For many, one or two rungs will be as much as their faculties will permit them to rise or, indeed, are necessary for their requirementsj for others, particularly youths whose schooling ended at the primary level, several rungs will be within their competence0 The important point is that a scheme of study of this nature should be available so that those adults who wish to improve their general educational standard can do soe

Throughout the developing countries many thousands of men and women are enrolled in courses of general education, usually by part-time studye The tragedy is that so often the only courses available to them are those designed for children at school«, Such curricula are usually unsuitable for two reasons. First, the content is inappropriate, since it is being used for a purpose quite different from that for which it was designed» Secondly, most school curricula are constructed as part of a continuing process which is spread over the years of childhood» Each year at the primary and secondary level is part of a greater whole, and the assumption has been made (for the majority of children in the developing countries quite erroneously) that the pupils will pass from one stage to another and eventually complete the process„ For adults no such assumption can be made* As already stated, for most men and women

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one or two rungs on the ladder will be as much as they will wish to attempts and it is essential therefore, that the syllabus for each part should, as far as possible, represent a satisfying and complete experience in itself.

The vital consideration is to make the content of general education appropriate for adult students0 Clearly this is a matter which can only be determined in the context of each country* and no overall blueprint of any value can be devised0 A safe generalisation is that language and number would probably be essential at all stages, and to this might be added consid­eration of economic, social, cultural and political issues in which local aspirations have to be viewed in the context of national needs and priorities. These three subject areas might constitute the core of courses at each level and to them could be added a range of additional subjects according to the resources available, the demands of society and the interests of the learners. In addition to providing courses in disciplines of an academic kind-economics history, biology, etc - vocationally oriented technical and commercial subjects could be included, two of which might be in the areas already noted as being of importance to a large section of the population, namely agri­culture and homecraft« It will be seen from these remarks that there is not a sharp line of demarcation between vocational and general education, and that study of both kinds is often undertaken concurrently„ An obvious example of this is where literacy instruction, which can be part of a scheme of general education, is best offered in çpnjunction with learning fundamental skills for rural or urban living»

Another type of course which could be included as part of a scheme of general education, but which over-laps into both vocational education and citizen training, is concerned with community service» Anyone with knowledge of developing countries will readily testify to the growing demand for leaders in a variety of community activities such as neighbourhood health visitors, grass roots community development workers, youth group leaders, literacy teachers, trade union committee members and local councillorse It may not be practicable to include preparatory courses for all of these, but it should be possible to discern which are the more important and concen­trate on them.

The third category of adult education is citizen training and here the activities are likely to be of a more informal kind* The central pur­pose is to encourage men and women to be active and constructive co-operators in the processes of national development, and there are many different ways of doing this6 For some it will involve an understanding of the social, political and economic forces which are shaping their destiny as individuals and as members of society as a whole. For this minority - which is none­theless very important - the University will probably act as the convenor of occasions for study at this level. For the majority this approach is

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likely to be too academic. For them their citizen training will stem from participation in the running of the church Women9s Club, the local co-operative or a Parent-Teacher Association. Through such activities consideration of matters of local and national concern are bound to arise,, and this will inev­itably deepen the understanding and awareness of those taking part of their own responsibilities as citizens and parentse Cultural pursuits ought also to form part of the programme, engendering an interest in literature,, drama, music and the other arts, and festering a healthy sense of national pride. Again it must be stressed that citizen-training is not a thing apart from other branches of education,, Take, for example, a group of women in a village who are members of a Women's Club5 The programme will include domestic activities connected with the running of the home, This is a Voca­tional Education« It may include literacy classes., which can be regarded as either Vocational or General Education» Discussion sessions on all kinds of topics connected with the community and country will be arranged^ This is Citizen Training. Each of these three parts contribute to the others] none would be wholly complete in isoiation0

The various aspects of adult education undoubtedly do resemble a motley array, but analysed in this way it is possible to see the degree of cohesion which exists between them.

3, Administrative and Educational Problems

This paper' is not intended as a comprehensive survey of the theory and practice of adult education in developing countries, but it would be incomplete without mention of some of the administrative and educational problems which are peculiar to adult education.

The diversity of activities has to be matched by a variety of providing agencies, thus making the administration of adult education a complex operation. Of the statutory authorities, many ministries as well as Education will be involved. Agriculture, Health, Labour, Social Welfare., Community Development, Home Affairs and Defense are amongst those with a direct interest in some form of adult education and to this list must be added the Local authorities, On the non-statutory side, the array of potential providers is considerable, such as voluntary community organisations, co-operatives, trade-unions, political parties and churches, as well as employers ands in a group on their own, the universities.

Tt is not surpris-: ïg therefore that attempts to marshall together these disparate forces have often failed, and yet without concerted planning much that needs to be done will be neglected and valuable resources wasted through duplication of effort. One Unesco educational planning commission (l) stated

(l) Report on the Unesco Educational Survey Mission to British Guiana, 1963°

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the problem which is common to so many countriese There is no central driving force, no organising or integrating authority to co-ordinate the diffuse activities of the many organisations which are interested in this important sphere of social development„ The stated aims cannot be realised if more concerted efforts, direction and leadership are not forthcoming. Another report (l) commented that* 'inquiries and observation indicate that this lack of co-ordination* and at times со-operation* has led to diseconomies, unnecessary competition* and perhaps less growth than otherwise could have been expected'e

Apart from the obvious need for co-operation and understanding between the various agencies involved* it is essential that all should know which department or departments of central government have the legal right to administer programmes of adult education» General education and citizen training are likely to be made a responsibility of a division within the Ministry of Education or a separate Ministry might be created to embrace Adult Education and Community Development* since there is common ground between the two.

Vocational education presents a more complicated situation. Much of the work will be directly controlled by other specialist Ministries! for example health education by the Ministry of Health and agricultural extension by the Ministry of Agriculture. But vocational education must not become wholly divorced from the other branches of adult education* and indeed aspects of vocational education are also* at the same time* part of general education and citizen training* It would seem reasonable* therefore* to require the Ministry of Education (or Adult Education) to keep a watching brief over the whole of adult education and through ar inter-ministerial committee to ensure that all the interested parties in central government are kept in touch with each other„

But the statutory authorities are not the only providers to be considered* and unless the nonstatutory agencies feel that they* also, are participating in shaping policy* their contribution to adult education is likely to be made with diminished geal and effectiveness„ Thus it is essen­tial that there should be established a committee or council at a high enough level to command national respect which will bring together all the providers of adult education into a close working relationship#

(l) Unesco report on Educational Planning in Mepal and its economic implication* 19б2е

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Diagrammatically this can be illustrated as follows :

EDUCATION

INTER-MINISTERIAL

COUNCIL FOR ADULT

EDUCATION

OTHER MINISTRIES

VOLUNTARY ORG, TRADE UNIONS, CO-OPERATIVES, CHURCHES, EMPLOYERS UNIVERSITY etc»

It was stated earlier that adult education is concerned with the well-being of men and women.. Plans which are made in the somewhat remote circles of the capital city will not necessarily meet the needs of the humble peasant farmer and his familyc At the same time because of the diverse claims on resources, it will net always be possible to give high priority, in the national interest, to the hopes and aspirations of each individual. It is desirable therefore to ensure that at every level - villäge, region and province as weil as nationally - there is a known means of communication not only between providers of adult education j, but also between potential partici­pants and those able to react to their requests, A national structure of adult education must have its roots in the community,, and even if this makes the process of decision making more cumbersome and lengthy it is nevertheless essential„

The spread of activities and the number of providers raise difficulties in the assessment of the cost of adult education,, The lack of a universally acceptable definition of the term makes comparison of national expenditure vir­tually meaningless« Jane King5 in her book on non-formai education in Tanzania* concluded that expenditures on the different types of non-formal education designed to improve conditions and productivity in the rural sector represent a proportion of total central government recurrent expenditure which probably does not exceed 5 pe^ cent, ieeb« about one quarter of recurrent expenditure on formal education c This does not represent the total cost of adult educa­tion since to this anc* other contributions made by central government should be added those carried by voluntary community organisations and other providers,

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Nevertheless adult education tends to be the least expensive branch of education for the following reasons, The coverage is invariably much less than for formal schoolings even where there are broad based schemes of agri­cultural extension and community development. The heavy dependence on part-time and often unpaid teachers, and the fees paid by students keep the costs downe Capital requirements are less than those of formal schoolingj and the increasing use of mass communications, and in particular radio and learning by correspondence courses9 also enables costs to be cut,, Again it should be repeated that a major contributor to adult education are the voluntary agencies, and that without their willing support, particularly in the sphere of citizen-training, much less could be accomplished,»

It would not be possible in a paper of this length to make an exhaus­tive analysis of all the administrative and educational problems posed Ъу adult education,. Many of the comments in the foregoing paragraphs emphasize some of the ways in which adult education differs from other branches of education j, and the complexities of administration and finance will have high­lighted the importance of establishing a proper framework, national and local, in which programmes can be planned* financed and executede I will conclude by referring, briefly, to three other specific matters9 namely training, accommodation and methods of teaching,

The flow of adults willing to learn should be matched by a corres­ponding supply of trained people capable of teaching and an effective admi­nistration to ensure that the two are brought together. The training of teachers and administrators is clearly priority work, made all the more difficult by the necessity of using an array of part-time workers* many offering their services without remuneration« It would be over matters such 'as this that a national co-ordinating committee, of the kind mentioned earlier, could prove its value, bringing together all the resources available in the statutory and non-statutory sectors for the task of training teachers and administrators& Central government would probably have to shoulder the main responsibility, aided by the universities for higher level personnel» Training Colleges, in which midd2e~level workers in adult education, community development, agricultural extension and health education are trained, would be needed, and much would be gained by incorporating some understanding of adult education in normal teacher»training courses0 Much ©f the training of part~ time teachers, particularly those at the lowest levels, would have to be under-taken jointly by voluntary organisations and regional or area officers of central government^

The need for capital expenditure is comparatively small, and the main outlay will be for those aspects of vocational education - rural and urban -requiring specially equipped premises0 Much of adult education can take place in borrowed premises such as schools and halls„ Tner© is value in making some residential accommodation available for adult classes, though one way of achieving this is by using university and teacher-training college accommodation vacations«

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Finally, over methods of teaching it should be noted that adult education generally places less reliance on face-to-face instruction than is the case of formal schooling* and is making increasing use of the means of mass communicationс Each branch of adult education has forms of teaching most appropriate to it and there will also be variations according to the ability of the students. It would be a charge on those responsible, and particularly on the departments of central government most involved, to design combinations of teaching methods according to the nature of the work and the resources available.,

4C Conclusion

There is no value in looking back to a past when adult education was accorded little more than a patronising glance Ъу educational planners -and administratorsс That day is probably over everywhere and increasingly the ciaims of adults to be equipped for the challenges of a changing and exciting future are being accepted,.

These claims, however, can only be fully translated into reality where adequate thought is given t© the content and administration of adult education,,