1. Adult education is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained learning
activities in order to gain new forms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values.[1] It can mean any
form of learning adults engage in beyond traditional schooling, encompassing basic literacy to
personal fulfillment as a lifelong learner.[2] In particular, adult education reflects a specific
philosophy about learning and teaching based on the assumption that adults can and want to
learn, that they are able and willing to take responsibility for that learning, and that the learning
itself should respond to their needs.[3] Driven by what one needs or wants to learn, the available
opportunities, and the manner in which one learns, adult learning is affected by demographics,
globalization and technology.[4] The learning happens in many ways and in many contexts just as
all adults' lives differ.[5] Adult learning can be in any of the three contexts i.e.
 Formal – Structured learning that typically takes place in an education or training
institution, usually with a set curriculum and carries credentials,
 Non-formal- Learning that is organized by educational institutions but non credential.
Non-formal learning opportunities may be provided in the workplace and through the
activities of civil society organizations and groups
 Informal education-Learning that goes on all the time, resulting from daily life activities
related to work, family, community or leisure (e.g. community baking class)[6][7]
Why the Uganda government should privatise adult education
Purposes of adult education may vary, the general purposes of which are summarized as:
 Vocational
 Social
 Recreational
 Self-development[11]
One of its goals may be to help adult learners satisfy their personal needs and achieve their
professional goals.[12] Therefore, its ultimate goal might be to achieve human fulfillment. The
goal might also be to achieve an institution's needs. For example, this might include improving
its operational effectiveness and productivity. A larger scale goal of adult education may be the
growth of society by enabling its citizens to keep up with societal change and maintain good
social order.[1]
The purpose of adult education in the form of college or university is distinct. In these
institutions, the aim is typically related to personal growth and development as well as
occupation and career preparedness. Another goal might be to not only sustain the democratic
society, but to even challenge and improve its social structure.[1]
Another fast-growing sector of adult education is English for Speakers of Other Languages
(ESOL), also referred to as English as a Second Language (ESL) or English Language Learners
(ELL).[13] These courses are key in assisting immigrants with not only the acquisition of the
English language, but the acclimation process to the culture of the United States as well as other
English speaking countries like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.[14]

2. A common problem in adult education in the US is the lack of professional development
opportunities for adult educators. Most adult educators come from other professions and are not
well trained to deal with adult learning issues. Most of the positions available in this field are
only part-time without any benefits or stability since they are usually funded by government
grants that might last for only a couple of years. However in Canada, professional development
is available in all provinces and territories through postsecondary institutions and most Provinces
also provide professional development through their ministry of education or school boards and
through nongovernmental organizations.[15] In addition, there are programs about adult education
for existing and aspiring practitioners offered, at various academic levels, by universities,
colleges, and professional organizations.[16]
Challenges and motivating factors
Adults have many responsibilities that they must balance against the demands of learning.
Because of these responsibilities, adults have barriers and challenges against participating in
learning and continuing their education. The barriers can be classified into three groups:
 Institutional
 Situational
 Dispositional[19]
Some of these barriers include the lack of time balancing career and family demands, finances,
transportation. confidence, or interest, lack of information about opportunities to learn,
scheduling problems, entrance requirements and problems with child care.[20] Other obstacles
that prevent adults from pursuing further education are fear, shyness, ego, and stigma. Distance
learning can address some of the institutional barriers such as class scheduling and entrance
requirements.[21] Fear, shyness, ego, or stigma can also prevent adults from pursuing further
education.
Keeping adults motivated, instilling in them confidence, reinforcing positive self-esteem allows
for them to develop into lifelong learners.[22] Typical motivations include a requirement for
competence or licensing, an expected (or realized) promotion, job enrichment, a need to maintain
old skills or learn new ones, a need to adapt to job changes, or the need to learn in order to
comply with company directives. The best way to motivate adult learners is simply to enhance
their reasons for enrolling and decrease the barriers. Instructors must learn why their students are
enrolled (the motivators); they have to discover what is keeping them from learning. Then the
instructors must plan their motivating strategies. A successful strategy includes showing adult
learners the relationship between training and an expected promotion. they can be shown that the
course benefits them pragmatically, they will perform better, and the benefits will be longer
lasting.[23] It is crucial for teachers to be aware of the characteristics of their learners and that
they develop lessons that address both the strengths and the needs of their individual students.[24]

3. Fears over privatisation of adult education courses
PLANS to privatise adult education will spell disaster for people hoping to improve their skills
and development in Surrey, according to the county’s Labour party.
The group fears that proposals put forward by the ruling Conservatives at County Hall will see
major cuts in provision next year.
However, the Tories argue that the changes are a result of a reduction in central government
funding and in numbers enrolling on courses.
They admit that the Learning and Skills Council has put the services out to tender but say that
until a decision is made early next year adult it is still “business as usual”.
Labour Group leader Cllr Victor Agarwal has written to Surrey County Council calling for the
authority “to come clean” about the proposed changes.
He says privatisation is not the answer. He believes many people will lose out on vital training
and education opportunities as a result of higher costs and fewer courses.
He told the Mail: “The priority of private companies is profit rather than community
development and community engagement.
“The resulting rise in costs will mean fewer people being able to afford to pay for the courses.
Those who can afford it will enrol and those who can’t won’t.”
He says the county council needs to be more up-front about changes to this year’s courses, which
have already seen cuts.
“I have been unable to find any statement from the adult education service about the extent of the
cuts it has made in the courses it is offering this year as compared with those in 2005-2006,” he
said. “Nor has there been any explanation of the considerable increase in fees for adult learning
foisted on the people of the county,” he explained.
The head of adult and community learning, Linda Piercy, says the changes, which will affect
leisure and recreational courses, are in line with central government policies to prioritise support
for 16- to 19-year-olds with poor literacy and numeracy skills.
She said: “National policy is to prioritise public funding for people who do not yet have
qualifications, and to reduce subsidies for people who have qualifications and those who have
them and are studying for their personal development or enjoyment.”
Consequently, the cost of these courses has increased from £3 to £4 per hour, she explained.

4. She pointed out that courses run are in line with public demand. Last year around 28% did not
run because of insufficient enrolments.
Executive member for safer and stronger communities, Cllr Christine Stevens, says there is no
alternative way forward if leisure learning is to be saved.
She added: “We recognise that staff will feel vulnerable in a period of uncertainty and we are
ensuring they are treated fairly and kept informed.
“But some things are constant. As now customer demand will drive which courses are viable. As
now inspection by the Adult Learning Inspectorate will drive the quality of that learning offer —
and a failed inspection means no money at all.
“Our goal is to relaunch adult and community learning as a better quality service, responsive to
customer needs and capable of exceeding stringent inspection standards.
“I’d sooner be pro-active, as we are being than sit on our hands, fail inspection and lose
everything — money, tutors and courses.

5. An adult education program can provide many benefits, and not just academic ones. Taking adult
education courses can have a tremendous positive impact on your employment prospects, in
three ways. It can make you more marketable, it can lead to higher pay, and it can expand your
options for where you choose to work. Let's look at each of these.
Very Marketable
One of the benefits that your adult education program may offer is the opportunity to learn some
very marketable skills. There are any number of courses you can take which can provide you
with specific job skills which are in high demand. Vocational courses such as welding, nursing,
medical assisting, dental assisting, machine operation, and many more, can lead to high paying
careers right out of school. Even if you take only general education courses, you will still
enhance your value to your current or future employer.
 First, almost every position that you will encounter will require you to read, write, and
perform some math. In fact, you may have to read employee handbooks, emails, memos,
pamphlets, and other similar documents; write information about customer orders, notes,
emails, letters, and other similar information; and determine the distance from one area to
the next, calculate the appropriate amount of change to give a customer, calculate the
total cost of a purchase, and perform other similar tasks. This means that you need some
basic skills in order to perform the tasks that are common to almost every job that you
might apply for, and the diploma or General Educational Development (GED) credential
that an adult education program can help you earn is proof that you have these skills.
 Secondly, most of the positions that you will encounter will require you to have some
skills that are specific to the position that you are attempting to obtain. This is important
because some employers are willing to train people on-the-job, but almost every
employer would prefer to hire someone that already knows what they’re doing. This
means that you may greatly increase your chances of getting a job, especially a technical
job, if you learn the skills that you need for that job in an adult education program. For
example, if you’ve always been interested in the medical field, but you do not have the
time or the money to become a nurse or doctor, you may be able to find an adult
education program that offers nursing assistant courses. This will allow you to learn some
of the skills that you would typically learn on the job
before you even apply for a position.
Earn Better Salary
Another great benefit is that you could well wind up making a
better salary. Most employers are willing to pay you more when
you get more education. Of course, if you're not currently
working now, and you're having trouble finding a job because
you don't have a high school diploma, earning your GED can be
the difference between staying unemployed and getting a decent
job. For those who are already working, taking advanced
courses can give you skills that will make you more valuable to

6. your employer, or to other employers, leading to higher pay and better job offers. Having skills
that are in demand is the best form of job security, as employers will want to hire you. Any
opportunity to improve your knowledge and skills should be seen as an opportunity to give
yourself a raise.
Qualified to Work Anywhere
How would you like to be able to move and not have to worry about finding a job? Well, with
adult education, you can pick up skills that in demand, and when you've got these, you can work
almost anywhere. Maybe where you live doesn't really appeal to you, or there isn't much
employment available. Or maybe you'd like to move to be closer to friends or relatives, or to
engage in some activity which isn't practical where you live. Whatever your reasons for wanting
to move, you'll be much more successful in your new location if you have job skills that
employers are looking for. Even if you have no desire to move at present, it's nice to know that if
you ever had to move, or wanted to, you could find a job right away because of the skills you've
gained with adult education.
Why is Adult Education important?
People who have an opportunity to continually learn and develop their skills and capacities:
 Make our economy grow and develop
 Ensure that their children develop a love of learning and take full advantage of education
 Actively participate in their own communities and civil society
 Support and respect people with different cultural beliefs and abilities
 Respect and protect the environment for future generations
 Nurture creativity and imagination
 Live healthy and fulfilled lives
So: Investing in adult education makes sense for individuals, families, communities and our
country as a whole.

7. op 10 Learning Benefits for Adult Learners
Everyone should remember learning doesn’t - and shouldn’t - stop when we reach adulthood.
Adult education can provide us with the knowledge, skills and confidence we need to make life
changing decisions or take us further in our career. Explore the different types of learning
available (classroom learning‚ e-learning and blended learning) and experience the benefits of
learning new skills to enhance your career. As adult learners we can learn new skills whenever it
suits us.
We all learn new things every single day that contribute to our personal and professional growth
which help us become better at what we do. However, making the conscious decision to
participate in training courses that develop a specific set of skills or to study a particular subject
of interest has a number of benefits that we often don’t even realise.
The top 10 benefits of adult learning:
Career: by learning new skills we open up new opportunities that might not have been available
to us before. Learning empowers us and helps us achieve our aspirations and career goals. It can
also serve as evidence to employers of our capabilities.
Confidence: by discovering things you’re good at and expanding your skills portfolio‚ you
increase your self esteem and gain a sense of pride from your achievements.
Decision making: it can be difficult to make a decision without all the information. Engaging in
adult education enables us to make better informed decisions and have thorough conviction in
our beliefs.

8. Happiness: studies show that using your skills makes you happier; learning new skills boosts the
body’s natural studies show that using your skills makes you happier; learning new skills boosts
the body’s natural production of dopamine (you know, the feel good hormone!).
Health: the exercise of learning itself stimulates the brain and helps to keep your mind sharp.
Learning something new in one area can have a ripple effect in others‚ contributing to longevity
and good health in later life.
Independence: acquiring new skills means you are no longer dependent on others to carry out
certain tasks‚ giving you increased independence and in some instances helping save you money:
mastering the practise of bookkeeping for example might mean you no longer need to employ
someone to do the accounts for your business.
Personal development: learning is a process of self improvement‚ allowing you to reflect on
who you are and to add more dimensions to your capability‚ character and interests.
Professional Development: you cannot learn everything you need to know at the beginning of
your career then simply continue to use this knowledge throughout your working life. Engaging
in the learning process of Continual Professional Development (CPD) ensures you have the latest
knowledge and are equipped for change.
Self-direction: learning can bring meaning to our lives‚ helping to clarify future aspirations and
giving us a sense of worth and direction.
Wisdom: when we acquire new knowledge‚ we often want to share this knowledge with others.
The process of passing on knowledge in this way brings us closer to others and establishes a tight
knit community.
Learning transforms who we are as people‚ not just because it gives us knowledge we otherwise
would not have had‚ but also because it gives us confidence in our ability and transforms our
attitudes as a result. With the power of learning we have the ability to do whatever it is we want!