European Association for the Education of Adults (2010). The Role of Adult Education in Reducing Poverty EAEA Policy Paper Brussels: EAEA
This article assesses the role adult education plays in reducing poverty globally. There are about 1.4 billion people living below the poverty line of $1.25 a day and this accounts for approximately 20 percent of the world’s population. Adult education and lifelong learning have been cited as key to achieving international development targets designed to reduce poverty levels around the world. Poverty is a condition in which a person or community is deprived of, or lacks the essentials for a minimum standard of well-being and life. The purpose of adult education is to serve a broad range of purposes, among them, being vocational, social and emancipatory, social welfare and the individual self-development of the adult learner as well. The emancipatory relationship of adult learning and poverty reduction is highlighted in this article. Adult education can take different forms under the descriptors of formal, non-formal, informal, vocational, and basic education. In many cases, it is simply interpreted as literacy education. Adult Education has a role to play in nurturing the skills, knowledge and understanding necessary for reducing the risk of poverty and also for providing the capacity to withstand poverty-inducing pressures in today’s fast changing and unpredictable world. It is worth noting that education in itself is not value free and totally emancipatory. Adult education in alleviating poverty relies on a support system including the provision of supportive learning environments, culturally sensitive and multidimensional curricula. The use of partnerships and multi-sector networks in developing programmes, a bottom-up approach to decision making, reaching people in their natural settings, a focus on social mobilization, advocacy and community leadership, with learner support and adequate follow-up system are other ways in which adult education can help in ameliorating poverty.
Jinna, Y. J., & Maikano, P. N. (2014). The role of adult education in national development. International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences (ILSHS), 21, 35-42.
The authors collectively examine the role of adult education in national development from an African perspective. This country of focus for this assessment was the West African nation of Nigeria. One of the key objectives of adult education is to provide functional literacy education for adults who have never had the opportunity of any formal education. Adult education in this context refers to any form of learning undertaken by or provided for mature men and women outside the formal school system. Development in this article is referred to as a process of economic, social, political and cultural change engineered in a given society by the efforts of all stakeholders, both internal and external, including local communities, government, the private sector, civil society organizations, NGOs and technical and financial development partners. This is done with the view to improve the conditions of the life of the population in a sustainable way. Adult education plays a significant role in promoting the personal, social and economic well-being of individuals in the society. Health, civic and social engagement, attitudinal change and poverty reduction are all the by-products of an enlightened and educated adult populace. Notwithstanding all the merits of the above, there are some limitations in driving the agenda for adult education and national development. Funding remains one of the main drawbacks to adult education in Nigeria. Budgetary allocation to this educational sector is woefully inadequate. There is a call from this paper on the need to take a holistic view of what adult education really means for development, beyond certifications and qualifications. More investment in terms of funding for developing adult education in this era of globalization will not only produce human capital but also enable people to become well-informed citizens, capable of thinking critically and owning their destiny through active participation in affairs of the country.
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