The Role of adult education, challenges and prospects

Abstract

This paper examines the role of adult educators in national development, challenges and prospects. It starts by providing a brief historical background of adult education at the University of Zambia which is the main focus if this article. It then makes an attempt at defining some concepts relevant to this discussion. The roles of adult education which include economic, social development, political and national integration are described. The main challenges of adult education namely inadequate staffing, lack of appropriate teaching materials and limited areas of specialized fields of study at the University of Zambia under the current programme offerings are presented.  The paper concludes by highlighting some major prospects of adult education at the institution.