Adult education involves teaching adults through various methods like night schools, community colleges, and lifelong learning centers. It aims to educate adults on topics not covered in regular schooling like religion, politics, and family planning. The principles of adult learning emphasize that learning must be problem-centered, experience-based, meaningful, and allow learner feedback. In India, the government has launched various programs since independence to promote adult education through night schools, community centers, and mass literacy campaigns to build an educated nation.

1. ADULT
EDUCATION
Prepared By :
SONDARVA AGNES
M.sc.(Agri) Extension
1st semester
BACA, AAU, Anand

2. • Introduction:-
An adult is a human being who has attained the age of
21 (or say 18) years as specified by law.An adult is
considered to be a developed and mature person
Adult education is the practice of teaching and
educating adults. Adult education takes place in the
workplace,through"extension“schools,communities
colleges,folk high schools, and lifelong learning centers..
It has also been referred to as andragogy.

3. • Agencies of Social (Adult) education may be categorized as under:
• (a) Teachers, Government servants, NSS and other volunteers, social
education workers etc.
• (b) Regular educational institutions like schools, colleges, rural colleges,
community centres, agriculture extension groups, worker's educational
associations and voluntary organizations.
• (c) Informal educational devices like forums, study circles, group
discussions, listening groups, camps.
• (d) Recreational, educational bodies like theatres, cinemas, clubs,
societies, fairs, melas, nautanki etc.
• (e) Institutions whose primary aim is not education, such as religious
bodies, the Army, Parents Associations, Co-operative Societies and
other Government Departments.

4. • According to Darkenwald and Merriam (1982),there is a change in time
perspective as individuals mature from one of future application of
knowledge to immediate application of knowledge.Thus an adult is more
concerned with problem centred than subject centred learning.
• The central problem in getting adults to learn is motivation. Motivation
largely determines the rate of learning.Desire to learn must be aroused by
teachers adopting methods appropriate to the situation.To learn the adult must
find meaning and significance in the subject matter to be learned.
• Lack of literacy need not stand in the way of one’s learning.Age is also not the
hindering factor as many have supposed for tests have shown that throughtout
life learning ability does not change significantly and there is no sex difference
in learning power.

5. Scope:
• The scope of Adult education is very comprehensive.
Social education covers all those topics that are not
touched by education in general at school. Topics like
religion, politics and family planning can now be discussed
with adults who have a mature understanding. Moreover,
it aims at giving a new orientation to the outlook of adults
to suit the dynamic world. Then, the growth grooves of
each individual are different from those of others. Social
education harmonizes differences in growth and it also
provides an opportunity for growth to those who have
not been able to grow properly or completely earlier.

6. • The Principles of Adult Learning as given by
Knowles (1989)
• Learning of adults must be problem centered.
• Learning of adults must be experience centered.
• Learning of adults must be meaningful to the learner.
• The learner must be free to examine the experience.
• The learner must have feedback about progress towards
goals.

7. Adult Education in India
• Adult Education in India has been acclaimed and processed by
the Government since Independence. Several schemes and
campaigns have been launched to accelerate the process.
• Adult education in India is the process to provide education to
the adult and aged people who, somehow, had failed to receive
the elementary education during their childhood.
• The effort of providing adult education in India has been in
existence for the past several years, as it is one of the most
important things in building an educated nation

8. • Adult education in India is mainly provided at
night schools. These are situated in almost all
the Indian cities and villages. The provision for
imparting education has been made at night
because most of the people are engaged during
the day. Apart from the night schools,
the Government of India has also set up some
libraries so that the adults can study more to
become educated, not just literate.

9. • Adult education is included among the most important
responsibilities of the Government, as the eradication
of illiteracy has been one of the major national
concerns of the Government of India since
independence.
• The government launched the programme of Social
Education, under the Community Development
Programme in 1952, as part of the first Five Year Plan.
• In the recent times, the government has launched the
programme called National Literacy Mission (NLM) for
spreading adult education in India.

10. Social Education Organizers` Training Centres (SEOTCs)., comprising
male and female Social Education Organisers at grass-roots level have
also been created.
The government has also established model community centres, rural
libraries, Janata Colleges, youth clubs, mahila mandals and folk schools,
for spreading adult education.
• The Council for Rural Higher Education was established and a
Standing Committee of the Central Advisory Board of Education
(CABE) on Social Education was also constituted in 1956. The
government also started a National Fundamental Education Centre for
providing high-level training facilities to the adults.

11. Programs:-
• Social Education: The main objects of this programme are literacy,
extension, general education and social consciousness. It was in the period
1951-1956.
• Gram Shikshan Mohim: This movement was started in the year 1959
in Maharashtra. This programme was launched on an experimental basis
into 25 districts of the state. The duration of the movement was very
short as there was not any systematic setting due to which there was large
scale relapse of neo-literates into illiterate.
• Farmer`s functional literacy project: This project was accelerated as part
of the Green Revolution with the objective of making farmers functionally
literate in high yielding cultivation areas.
• Worker`s education: This programme is initiated through the Central
Board of Workers` Education and its institutes. However, the steps under
this scheme could not be linked to the literacy schemes/projects being
funded under the departments of Education of the states or by the Govt.
of India.

12. • The functional literacy of adult women project : was
started in the year 1975-1976. This scheme targeted at illiterate
adult women to acquire functional skills along with literacy, to
promote better awareness of health, hygiene, child-care
practices and to bring about attitudinal changes.
A massive programme of Adult Education called the
National Adult Education Programme (NAEP) for
removal of illiteracy in the 15-35 age group was introduced by
the Government of India on 2nd October, 1978. The aim of
this programme was to educate 100 million adults within a
time frame of five years.
•
However, apart from the Indian government, a large number
of NGOs have also been working to spread adult education in
India and they have done a tremendous job so far.

13. Conclusion
• Unless the adults realize the importance of
education they would never understand the
need to educate their own children.
Education is one of the stepping stones for
building a strong nation. Hence there is a
need for promoting adult education on a
large scale in the country as a whole.