Adult and continuing education in mathematics

1. Adult and continuing education in mathematics
By: Deen Mark L Gillegao
In this chapter the adult and continuing Education in Mathematics has been
emerged for the first time as an independent topic for discussion at an international
congress on mathematics education. This development has been brought about as a
result of the greatly increased interest in adult and continuing education in most
countries in the world. The development of a discussion on this new topic presented as
a major challenge to the reporter, to the panel members and to all those who took part
in the discussion. In a very real sense, those who involved themselves with this work
were attempting to lay a foundation for the future discussion of this topic at subsequent
conferences. Another goal of adult education is the creation of greater level of “social
equality”. The Council of Europe Report ascribes much of the impetus behind the
massive expansion of adult education, especially in the post-secondary area, to the
desire to break the “exclusiveness” in the restricted provision of secondary education.
Another major influence to be taken into account is the impact of admissions
policies and certification. A viable continuing education programme, especially if viewed
as providing “recurrent education”, requires a radical review of the criteria for admission
to post-secondary school education. In most developed nations, a gradual acceptance
is emerging that “experience” is likely to be the thing that most helps people to take
advantage of education and in this context work experience may be seen as a valuable
admissions qualification.
As experience, I face challenges to succeeding in higher education, but many of
the external factors influencing my lives, for example, my family and my career can be
seen as sources of motivation. These factors drew my motivation from support provided
by them, and from a more mature understanding of the financial investment and the
prospects for my career development. The reasons I chose to return to school is gain
qualifications or skills to secure a better job, enjoyment, learning for its own sake,

2. getting out of the house, making new friends, and gaining a place on a more advanced
course.