Expand access to adult education

Tinku is a 32-year old woman living near the Ninth Mile in Jodhpur. Recently, she approached me to seek help with enrollment in higher education. Tinku is not the only one who has suffered as a result of the stigma attached to women’s education. Several people, especially women and marginalised groups, desire knowledge empowerment because India lacks an adequate ecosystem to support adult education.

Adult education has been practised in our country since its inception. It is a comprehensive concept that encompasses more than just learning; it also encompasses an understanding of their own issues, rights, and roles in a changing society. It is informal and intended for adults ages 15 and above. It emphasises lifelong learning and is a career-oriented concept. It tries to affect a positive and noticeable change in people’s knowledge, skills, and attitudes. In order to educate a person, the idea of adult education has evolved from simple adult literacy to “inclusive education,” where the emphasis is placed on moral and spiritual as well as physical, intellectual, social, economic, and aesthetic components.

The importance of adult education can be summarised by the statement of the Kothari Commission that “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.” The census of 2011 reveals that between the ages of 15 and 35, nearly 20 per cent of the population was found to be illiterate, with large inconsistencies across all the states. The states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh had more than 25 per cent illiterate people between the ages of 15 and 35. Female literacy remains at 65.8 per cent, according to data available until 2018. India is also home to the largest number of illiterate people in the world, with over 25 per cent of the population still uneducated.

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Adult education has been part of government policy right from the first Five Year Plan (1951–1956) itself. A total of Rs 7.5 crore was sanctioned for the development of adult and social education in India. “Sakshar Bharath” was launched in the 11th Five Year Plan with the goal of achieving an 80 per cent literacy rate and reducing the gender gap in literacy to 10 per cent. The main focus of the programme was on SCs, STs, minorities, and rural women. Apart from this, various other initiatives have been launched for adult education, ranging from the National Adult Education Programme to the National Literacy Mission.

The National Board for Adult Education was formed, and the programme was launched in 1978 with the objective of promoting literacy skills among the socially and economically deprived sections of society to help them overcome helplessness and achieve self-reliance. The new Education Policy of 2020 has changed the term “adult education” to “education for all” under the “New India Literacy Programme” for the years 2022–2027. The programme will be run by volunteers, and students and teachers registered under the Unified District System for Education (UDISE) will participate.

Even after various initiatives and highly funded programmes, there are still many gaps in adult education. The irregularity of such initiatives and the non-regular conduct of classes remain a hindrance. Some states are still far behind on the literacy rate of their adult population. The lack of funds and the design of the programme which is detached from ground realities, lead to an outdated and unskilled outcome. According to the Ministry of Education, there are still 18.12 crore adults in the country who are illiterate, whereas the number of illiterate adults was 25.76 crore in 2011, of which 16.88 crore were women.

The focus of adult education programmes should not be limited to providing basic literacy. It should encompass the integration of facilitation and skill development for basic literacy. The government schools located in the villages can be good ground for the development of adult education centres.

Furthermore, the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana can be extended to villages, where skill development programmes can be designed to equip them with modern and timely skills to live in an advanced world. Adult education that is inclusive is a step towards effective citizenship. The issue of accessibility to the justice system, public institutions, and, more significantly, imparting constitutional literacy, can be solved through effective adult literacy programmes. As Dr Ambedkar said, “Education is the panacea for all problems.”

(The writer is a student at NLU Jodhpur and a member of the library committee for the Surpura Community Library)