Adult Education Essay 3
Introduction
Education is one of the fundamentals of life. People enrol to adult education programs either to cover up on what they missed during early age or simply to improve on their skills of life. Adult education institutions do a great job in offering these exceptional services. However, these institutions face a myriad of challenges due to the nature of the services that they offer. This paper presents the challenges in adult education in terms of mission of these institutions, structural barriers and funding.
Structural barriers
One of the greatest challenges facing adult education institutions is the great delusion in organizational structure. In most countries adult education programs fall under different ministries or departments. A report by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) argues, “The same program can be supplied by various entities (schools, Community Colleges, Correction, Government agencies, faith based organizations)” (OECD, 2003, p. 21). Bulus notes, “Federal, State and Local Governments, could all run education. Sometimes, it is not easy to draw a line of demarcation as to who is responsible for what, with each, thinking the other ought to” (Bulus, n.d. p. 5). These factors among others, makes the management and organization of these institutions difficult to implement.
Mission of the institutions
Adult education program covers a wide area of services that covers different categories of people. Most of these programs offer, informal, formal as well as non-formal education to people of varying ages. It is arguably hard if not impossible to have a clearly defined mission for adult education institutions. For instance, in U.S “The flow of decisions, financing and information is still more complex when the role of the Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services concerning adult education is taken into account” (OECD, 2003, p. 21 ). Unlike in the other education programs where all students are
Education is one of the fundamentals of life. People enrol to adult education programs either to cover up on what they missed during early age or simply to improve on their skills of life. Adult education institutions do a great job in offering these exceptional services. However, these institutions face a myriad of challenges due to the nature of the services that they offer. This paper presents the challenges in adult education in terms of mission of these institutions, structural barriers and funding.
Structural barriers
One of the greatest challenges facing adult education institutions is the great delusion in organizational structure. In most countries adult education programs fall under different ministries or departments. A report by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) argues, “The same program can be supplied by various entities (schools, Community Colleges, Correction, Government agencies, faith based organizations)” (OECD, 2003, p. 21). Bulus notes, “Federal, State and Local Governments, could all run education. Sometimes, it is not easy to draw a line of demarcation as to who is responsible for what, with each, thinking the other ought to” (Bulus, n.d. p. 5). These factors among others, makes the management and organization of these institutions difficult to implement.
Mission of the institutions
Adult education program covers a wide area of services that covers different categories of people. Most of these programs offer, informal, formal as well as non-formal education to people of varying ages. It is arguably hard if not impossible to have a clearly defined mission for adult education institutions. For instance, in U.S “The flow of decisions, financing and information is still more complex when the role of the Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services concerning adult education is taken into account” (OECD, 2003, p. 21 ). Unlike in the other education programs where all students are
References: Bulus, I. (n.d) An Analysis of the Problems of Adult Education Program in Plateau State, Nigeria: Implication For Policy Implementation. Retrieved on 8 May 2011 from http://www.ioe.stir.ac.uk/events/documents/Paper_009_IbrahimBulus.pdf GHK. (2011). Country Report on the Action Plan on Adult Learning: Austria. Retrieved on 8 May 2011 from http://adultlearning-budapest2011.teamwork.fr/docs/Country-report_AT_final.pdf González, A. (2007) California 's commitment to adult English learners: caught between funding and need. CA: Public Policy Instit. Print Ministry of Education, Ghana (MEG). (2008) The Development And State Of The Art Of Adult Learning And Education. Retrieved on 8 May 2011 fromhttp://www.unesco.org/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/INSTITUTES/UIL/confintea/pdf/National_Reports/Africa/Africa/Ghana.pdf Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (2003) Thematic Review on Adult Learning. Retrieved on 8 May 2011 from http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/60/23/35406014.pdf