According to the UNESCO, the term adult education denotes the entire body of organized educational process, whatever the contact-level and method, whether they prolong or replace initial education in schools, colleges – as well as apprenticeship, whereby a person regarded as an adult by the society to which he /she belongs, develops his/her abilities, enriches knowledge, improves technical or professional qualifications and causes change in his/her attitude and behavior in two-fold perspective of full development and participation in balanced and independent social economic and cultural development. When adult education is looked at and treated as a social program education, it is growth. Education then is not a mere preparation for life. It becomes life itself. it is a never ending process. It continues, cumulative and comprehensive.
Accepting it as a keynote, the urban extension term as been working in the appropriate direction. The Kothari commission has observed as regards the main concept of extension this is not another scheme. He is not another co-circular activity, it is the third dimension of the university system. The aim of the extension is first to extend knowledge and resource to the community and vice-versa. Secondly, it has to gain insights from a contact, between knowledge resources and social-cultural realities, with a view to reflecting than in the entire curricular system of higher education including teaching research.
The extension is a two-way process. It speaks of the utilization and application of classroom knowledge to the community. This helps the people in moving towards development through awareness and assertion. It is obvious that the people-participation is emerging as an important issue in the world today. The slogan of people-centered and people controlled paradigm has acquired new dimension and urgency besides establishing special identity in contemporary context.
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