Adult education: The under-Utilised vehicle to 2016

DIMPHO MOTSHABI and YAONE MOKHURUTSHE | Friday November 23, 2007 00:00

Adult Education remains the dark horse amongst bright horses. It is perpetually being subjected to an ordeal of being grossly despised, ignored and neglected by those in authority (policy makers) and the general public. The philosophical foundations of adult education indicates that this multi-dimensional discipline rests on the core value of community orientation in the light of highlighting the plight of the poor, the marginalized, the disabled, the workers, minority tribes and many other under privileged sectarians of the society. It argues that mass-illiteracy is a sin and must be liquidated and does not confine to literacy programmes alone but also aim at the emancipation of the masses from the squalor of superstition and the tyranny of taboos. It is supposed to facilitate real socio-economic and sustainable development in both the developed and developing countries. As one writer outlines, the concept of adult education has more to do with adulthood and education, liberating adult education and its modes, the communication of knowledge, the advancement of reason, educational processes, concepts of educational justice and education for democracy. Vision 2016 calls for a transformation of Botswana into a nation which is 'educated and informed'. Now how do we make that possible when we still under utilize problem-posing education, in which educator and educatee, together, as knowing subjects, 'read' the mediating 'subject'. i.e. reality of their world in a dialogue, to achieve a deepening awareness, both of the social, cultural, economic and political reality. Education that shapes their lives and of their potential/capacity to transform that reality, by raising their consciousness. We are not necessarily saying people should revolt against the government to realize who they are in terms of citizen values.

Admittedly basic/literacy education is one part which has a sound pivotal significance on the development of a social being. Literacy is just another tip of the ice bag of adult education. Contrary to most views, opinions and self-assumed perceptions of the society, adult education content offers a lot more than just mere literacy skill under the morula tree.

Perhaps the myopic and semi-casual interest on adult education derives from the name 'Adult Education', setting up people's minds to simply equate it with literate skill and nothing else. Adult education is indeed the integral pillar and corner stone of integrated community social development.

It would be of paramount significance to look at the theoretical layout of this subject. Furthermore the essay intends to show the relevance of adult education to the socio-economic development of our lives which could possibly land us at the destined dream land of vision 2016.

The profession covers a wider spectrum of contemporary issues that affect society at large, which invariably constitute community development. Amongst knowledge and skills acquired by adult education facilitators entails enhancement of community understanding regarding their socio-cultural, political, environmental, economic and spiritual aspects.

The early stage of induction of an adult education facilitator introduces them to a stream of various adult psychology studies. A couple of courses in program planning and evaluation and organization management are provided for. There are specific courses on gender issues, counseling, development policies, political economy and research practicum just to mention a few which underpins the programme. There is still a whole lot more. It does not need a professor or any other university academic to measure the programme content in relation to its validity and relevance to community development. 

To the nations dismay and utter shock, on the 24th of August 2007, the Establishment Secretary at the Ministry of Local Government circulated a misguided and malicious motivated piece of savingram, Reference no: U5/11V (74). Through that piece the Establishment Secretary was instructing all Council Secretaries, Town Clerks/City Clerks to immediately halt forth with the ;'Recruitment and Training of Personnel in the field on Adult Education'. Amazingly there were no reasons given, except the reasoning that adult education is not relevant to social work and community development. Whether such a trivial and preposterous reasoning was provided after a thorough dialectic and critical analysis of the programme content, that still remains a tormenting misery to the adult education professionals and learners. This reflects on how weak upstairs some of our dear leaders are, how can one promulgate such propaganda? We prescribe the likes of Paulo Freire for her, perhaps they will enrich her upstairs for this shows that there is a gross misconception of the profession. This would surprise the enlightened in other countries to hear that we still undermine adult education here in Botswana. Community Development activities in India were and still continues to be spearheaded and implemented by adult educators. This simply means adult education in the context of Botswana needs sympathy from the planners so that it can concentise, mobilize and empower people for self-reliance, fight against HIV/AIDS, poverty, unemployment, dependency syndrome, lack of social cohesion (family breaking, no togetherness, passion killings) and poor value of life. Government although has responsibility to create employment, cannot afford to hire everyone. We need adult education to intervene and rescue society through creation of self-employment opportunities and other informal income generating programmes.

With regard to high responsibility and far-fetched profile of the office she holds, she could be in a better position than any other person to know and explain to the public the exact relevance of adult education in spearheading the realm of community sustainable development. In a nutshell, it is a grave embarrassment and irreparable injury to the truth.

We espouse Clyne (1980) when he asserts that the intervention of adult education in close co-operation with the social services and community workers is the solution. Adult education can and must provide a compensatory and remedial education service designed to help the disadvantaged, improve their physical and mental welfare so that they can achieve personal fulfillment, social usefulness as members of the community with the ability to contribute to, rather than take from, the national wealth. 

Now the Establishment Secretary should tell us which adult education she was referring to. To the best of our knowledge there is academic course content which goes all the way to prove her wrong and buttress the programme relevance and progressiveness to community development and the social needs. We suspect the said officer is in gross professional crisis, detached from reality or deliberately ignoring the indispensable facts. 

Evidently, this goes a long way to answer our questions of low productivity. It also explains at length why, where and how the well trained technocrats in any specific field can not utilize fully their acquired skills, knowledge and expertise in the incumbent structures. A social worker, adult education facilitator or community development officer can only be required to count the number of orphans, put them in the destitute list and smile all the way to the bank at month end. Sadly, professionals in the civil service are underutilized. During training they acquire a lot of things they never live to exhibit or implement in their lives. The current civil service structures prohibit them from stringently utilizing their acquired skills. Ironically structural conditions are pulling the opposite direction despite the irrefutable perennial social ills our little Botswana is facing. The existing service structure would do better if they could loosen and allow professionals to fully put their potential and capability to good use which could effect social transformation in the society. The effective mechanism would be to let the professionals go out mingle with the people, grasp accurately their way of life, aspirations, needs and priorities. This could facilitate mutual dialogue leading to achieving deep awareness in socio-economic, political and cultural matters.

This piece of writing must be an eye opener to the mass media to report stories on the importance of promoting adult education.

The Ministry of Education should give more priority to developing Non-Formal, Informal and Formal adult education activities. More resources must be channeled where it is strategically and desperately needed. 

Our country is faced with a number of ever-rising monumental challenges. Just recently the Independence Electoral Commission was faced with the most mammoth task of luring citizens to register for elections. Voter apathy is rampant; there is urgent need to promote values of citizenship in a democracy. We need trained adult educators to mobilize, teach and inculcate awareness among citizens about the responsibility of registering for elections and its value to the country. Local stars Maxy and Vee can assist in this regard limitedly, but would not be singing during the voting day to mobilize citizens to vote.

Trained Information and Elections Officers in the field of adult education must be hired to embark on house to house campaigns, workshops and kgotla meetings as the most effective ways of mobilizing people to know that voting is an individual's right not a privilege. A continuous process of political education and human rights education would save Botswana from pathetic political apathy. This is achievable if adult education is used as one of the tools to make people realize that they are determined/conditioned beings in the undesirable situation and that they are naive and incomplete beings. 

It is over two decades since we have been grappling with the HIV/AIDS pandemic. With massive resources at our disposal we are able to offer adequate condoms for use, PMTCT programme, ARV Therapy etc. Disappointly there is very little we can show that we are winning the battle. After all the struggle continues. It should be common sense to the government that there is something wrongly done. What could it be? HIV/AIDS is not more of a medical problem than a social problem to the developing world. It is time we shift gears and invest more resources in working on behavioural change. Not just rhetoric talk that we should change our behavior.

Trained personnel in the multi-disciplinary field of adult education must be massively deployed in Community Centres, Community Based Organizations, NGOs, Schools, Parastatals, and Private Sectors even at Cabinet level.

They could nurture and condition the community through perpetual indulgence with them and providing other alternative mindsets which could dispel the myths the society has about cultural practices and HIV/AIDS. Without behavioural change rigid and conspicuous structures operated by community change agents, we have forever lost the battle.

Citizens of this country are deemed to be a proactive flock which should struggle to meaningfully justify their existence on earth. There is a lot this country offers which can be kick started by pragmatic and foreshadowing authority. The area of promoting and conserving profound practices of indigenous knowledge and traditional practices is deplorably abandoned. With Community Based Natural Resources Management Policy passed in parliament, this could generate income for poor communities in this country.

We need adult educators to facilitate, group and mobilize the society to consider using their indigenous knowledge, available natural resources and artistic talents to generate income projects which will meaningfully have a large stake in growing domestic economy.

Community development officers could help them utilize their talents for the betterment of their communities and this country. Through adult education people can reflect on their current consciousness, which is the result of the multiple obstacles and deviation of reality and attempt to develop that potential consciousness to achieve the historical and antological task of man- to be more fully human.

Adult Education students at the University of Botswana.