Misconceptions about Adult Education Innovations in the United Republic of Tanzania
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Date
1988
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Publisher
Springer
Abstract
T h e need to provide education to adults in
the United Republic of Tanzania, has been the
major concern of the Party and government ever
since the Adult Education Year of 1970. In
spite of various adult education innovations
that have been introduced in the country to
date, the majority of the recipients are functionally
illiterate. These innovations which are,
inter alia, functional literacy, post literacy,
workers' education, and para-literacy have not
enabled the adult learners to improve their
living conditions. In the countryside, poor
housing and health conditions, conservative
cultural beliefs, deforestation as well as soil
erosion are the order of the day. While it is
true that the national literacy rate is 85 per cent,
the figure refers to the acquisition of the
three Rs (reading, writing and simple arithmetic)
and not to the functional aspects. This
explains wh y adult educational innovations have failed to transform people's living conditions,
for they have tended to be conceptualized
at the level of literacy per se by the
implementors. Th e way the innovations are
introduced and understood, determine to a
larger extent the way such innovations are
implemented.
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Citation
Mushi, P.A.K., 1988. Misconceptions about adult education innovations in the United Republic of Tanzania. Prospects, 18(3), pp.363-368.