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Adult education has benefited national development - Prof
Greenstreet
Accra, Jan 7, GNA- Professor Miranda Greenstreet, Former
Director of the Institute of Adult Education (IAE) on
Saturday, said the nation had achieved much in the use of
adult education as tool for national development.
She however observed that adult education institutions could
not afford to be complacent if they were to remain relevant
to national aspirations in the coming years.
"I believe that with visionary leadership on the part of the
state and the actors in the field in Ghana, adult education
can be used as a tool to enable the country to leapfrog and
become more competitive on the global market and ensure
better standards of living for Ghanaians", Prof Greenstreet
said in a lecture at the 58th Annual New Year School at the
University of Ghana, Legon.
She said the rapid rate of change challenges traditional
notions of education and forces a critical re-evaluation of
the role and nature of adult education.
"That is why I am suggesting a radical re-conceptualisation
of adult education as lifelong learning as obtains
elsewhere," Prof Greenstreet said in the lecture, which was
on the theme: "Adult Education and National Development
Since Independence".
The school is a one-week annual extra-mural education
programme, organized by the IAE.
The school, which is attracting about 600 participants from
a cross section of Ghanaians from the academia, politics and
governance, civil society groups; District Chief Executives
and Members of Parliament, is examining the political,
economic and social performance of Ghana after 50 years of
independence, "Achievements, Challenges and the Future."
The lecture, delivered with the aid of a chargeable light
because of a power outage, defined adult education as
"learning, which can immediately render benefit to adults in
every field of endeavour" and made a strong case for
continued access to education and training education through
distance education.
Prof Greenstreet said distance based education reaches more
students than conventional approaches.
She cited the University of Phoenix and said that University
had by May 2006, 30 years after its inception had 126
different programmes on offer and had awarded 243,753
degrees.
It had also been reported that in China, 46,000 engineering
and technology students per year graduate through distance
education.
"Ghana may not be able to mobilize such numbers but there is
still a need to focus on taking the necessary steps that
will enable us to take advantage of what others have done in
relation to distance education and build upon it," Prof
Greenstreet said, adding " closing the knowledge gap will
not be easy for a country such as Ghana... but we do not
have to re-invent the wheel."
She said Ghana also needed to focus on the implementation of
a broader offering of distance learning programme to enable
wider access to all Ghanaians who are capable of taking
advantage of the opportunities offered.
Prof Greenstreet said the nation needed to focus on some key
programme areas and activities to be able to achieve its own
special market niche.
She said these includes programmes to support adult
literacy, poverty eradication, entrepreneurship skills,
environmental education, civil awareness, programmes for
artisans and the professions, as well as programmes aimed at
formalising the informal sector to harness their immense
potential for national development, and grow leaders in all
fields of human endeavour.
"Programmes would need to become more flexible to
accommodate their needs... All programmes would require that
providers of adult education must themselves update their
skills in order to provide useful knowledge and skills for
their clientele.
Prof Greenstreet urged practitioners of adult education to
proactive in identifying new and radical modes of funding
their work since they could no longer rely on traditional
sources of funding.
There will also be a need to accept the concept of
co-investment, or cost-sharing- to ensure that the separate
complementary and mutually supportive contributions of a
wide range of provides and beneficiaries of life-long
learning are recognised.
Prof Greenstreet emphasized constant upgrading of skills
through lifelong learning approach to education and
training, adding that this would require a multi faceted
approach to policy development to address the interplay of
lifelong learning for a more highly skilled workforce,
stronger democracy and more personally rewarding life.
GNA
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