Adult and Lifelong Education for Poverty Reduction: A Critical Analysis of Contexts and Conditions

Abstract

Poverty reduction is deeply implicated in structures of politics, economy, culture, and technology, from the global down to local levels. Irrespective of the particular political ideology of a nation and of the specific strategy of mobilization, adult and life-long education can and must play a significant role in reducing poverty, including preventing its inception. Yet the adult-education sector does not seem to be ready for this challenge. The present study argues that the re-education of adult educators is a dire necessity for effective poverty reduction. It also maintains that adult educators must be re-socialized in terms of their potential new roles as intellectual-activists. Only so can they work successfully towards introducing systems of adult and life-long education that are truly comprehensive and genuinely commensurate with the goals of poverty reduction.