INACCESSIBILITY OF ADULT EDUCATION.
In the pursuit of higher education, the adult college students face various unique challenges. The motive behind a majority of the student’s enrollment for the adult classes is the increased demand for a specialized workforce. The number of adult students looking for ways to upgrade their skills in the job market is on the increase. However, their dream of acquiring more knowledge in the colleges is cut short by some institution’s lack of resources. About 63 percent of the current jobs will require post-secondary education by the year 2018 (Elias 89).The adult learning institutions need to be more competent in order to achieve the set targets. There is a need for the institutions to come up with appropriate policies that offer financial aid and support to the adult students.
Further, those who wish to take their learning programs outside the classroom setting should be in a position to take up online courses. In the past decades, attaining a secondary level education was enough guarantee for a good job and salary, the current situation has completely changed. Postsecondary degrees have become very critical even for the workers in the middle and lower tiers of the labor market (Perry 120). The earnings for postsecondary education give adult students the motivation to get the skills required. The adult students lack access to college due to reasons such the high cost of college education, multiple roles in the society and lack of time for studies. In other cases where the students have to take on distance learning program, some are not able to take the online lessons due to challenges in technology. Such students may abandon school altogether. The study seeks to evaluate the level of accessibility of adult students in colleges.
Adult students have more barriers to education than those students who enroll in colleges right after completing their high school education. Lack of time to pursue education is a major challenge with these students who have to balance between family responsibilities and school work. The cost of education courses is also a major challenge in attaining the education. The challenges endanger their ability to access education and to work persistently towards their academic success.
The educational attainment rates are likely to drop even with the rising demand for education. By 2020, the number of whites in the workforce is expected to drop by 19% to 63% down from 82% in the 1980s (Perry 350). At the same time, the Hispanic population in the workforce is expected to triple from 6% to 17% (Elias 45). African American proportion will increase by almost a third. The racial gap in attainment of education has grown since 1980. Between 1980 and 200, the percentage of African American adult learner rose to15% from 6%, while that of African Americans rose by 3% from 9%. During the same period, the percentage of white adults seeking to attain higher education rose by 10% (Elias 45).
The study carried out an interview on three demographic populations that are the white, the Hispanics and the African American. The sample size was 15 for each group, with the interviews taken from three categories that are school departments, adult students, and social workers. The questions involved their age, their motivation to get back to school, the financial burden of the course, major challenges in education that are not financial-related and the response of their families on the adult education. About 80% of the students agreed that accessibility of adult education was mainly due to lack of time to attend classes. With family responsibilities to handle, majority of adult students do not get time to read. The question on the motivation behind going back to school had common responses in almost all the interviewees. The reason behind adult learning was advancement in careers and promotion purposes. White interviewees did not seem to worry much about the inaccessibility of education, but the Hispanics were much worried about the current trends in the workplace. The interviewees did not have much to say about the family views on the fact that they go to school at their age. The interviewees from the school departments reported a fall in adult enrollment in the 4-year learning program and an increase in the 2 years program.
In conclusion, the adult education program needs to be well evaluated, and appropriate measures put in place measures that will make it accessible. The adult learners need an enabling environment to study since they have multiple roles to carry out. The learning mode needs to be flexible to enable the adult students carry out their roles in the family and school work. The cost of acquiring the education is also a major issue why the adult education is not accessible to many. The cost of adult education should be subsidized to allow the learners pay their fees and also be able to take care of other financial obligations. The adult colleges need to look for shorter learning periods. Efforts should be made by organizations to establish a study leave program to ensure that the adult learned get ample time to study.
Works Cited
Elias, John L., and Sharan B. Merriam. Philosophical foundations of adult education. Krieger Publishing Co., PO Box 9542, Melbourne, FL 32902., 2005
Perry Jr, William G. Forms of Intellectual and Ethical Development in the College Years: A Scheme. Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series. Jossey-Bass Publishers, 350 Sansome St., San Francisco, CA 94104, 2009.
