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| Adult Literacy Vital For Development |
1/9/2007 |
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By Times Reporter
Tuesday, 09 January 2007
GHANA appears to be moving rather slowly in the area of developing adult education, says Professor Miranda Greenstreet, a former director of the Institute of Adult Education, Legon.
She said "One of the biggest hurdles to our industrialisation and development is the low adult literacy level in the adult population."
Addressing the New Year School on the topic, "Adult Education and National Development Since Independence," Prof Greenstreet said "we cannot compare ourselves with China in manufacturing, the United States of America in Science, or Japan in technology. Even coming nearer home, we cannot compare ourselves with Kenya in tourism."
She said that for Ghana to achieve the vision of identifying its own special niche market, there was the need to focus on key programmes and activities that would support adult basic literacy, poverty eradication, entrepreneurship skills and civic.
These programmes, Prof. Greenstreet said must be aimed at formulating the informal sector to harness their immense potential for national development, as well as those aimed at growing leaders in all fields of human endeavour in Ghana.
"Adult education also has a responsibility to help the populace to find the missing links that have eluded Ghanaians," she noted, adding that there is the need for attitudinal change in the national body politics and the need to develop a new work ethic that will make people give of their best whatever role they are required to play.
She said it was becoming clear that adult education institutions no longer rely on traditional sources of funding in order to carry out their mandate.
"There is an urgent need for practitioners to be proactive by identifying new and radical modes of funding their work. There will also be a need to accept the concept of co-investment or cost-sharing," she suggested.
Touching on policy initiatives for learning, she called for the establishment of a policy framework that provides a comprehensive, consistent and flexible structure for all levels of education.
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