UNZA Adult Education and Extension Studies Department
UNZA Adult Education and Extension Studies Department – Details of UNZA Adult Education and Extension Studies Department
The History of the Department of Adult Education and Extension Studies at the University of Zambia. University of Zambia Intake
The University of Zambia was born in 1966 as a result of the Lockwood Report of 1963. Interestingly, the history of the Department of Adult Education and Extension Studies is as old as the University of Zambia itself. It was the Lockwood Report that recommended the establishment of the Department of Extra Mural Studies. What is now called the Department of Adult Education and Extension Studies started in 1966 as two departments: the Department of Extra-Mural Studies and the Department of Correspondence Studies. The first Director for the former department was Professor Lalage Bown. She started work in May 1966 during the University’s first term of the first year of its existence.
In July 1966, the University Senate laid down two main principles for the Department’s policies and work. These were to maintain the University links with the community, and recognise that the University has a contribution to make to the socio-economic advancement of the nation and to diffuse University knowledge and ways of thought throughout the nation.
Following its establishment, the Department of Extra-Mural Studies started to decentralize its work through a network of Resident Lecturers (Then Resident Tutors) stationed in the provinces. The Department was established to provide for adults both graduates and non-graduates who could not enter the University. Modes of operation were designed to reach as many citizens of Zambia as possible. For example, in 1966, the department started to broadcast a radio programme called ‘The Voice of Your University’ which was later renamed: University of Zambia Information Corner. The radio programme provided University students and members of staff a platform on which they discussed various aspects of the University to keep the public informed about its development. Plans for University extension included the following: making use of University residential facilities during vacations for residential Extra-Mural courses; conducting seminars and conferences; and conducting Extra-Mural classes in the provinces.
In 1974, the Vice-Chancellor of the University appointed a working party to restructure the University extension. The committee decided to bring together all the departments concerned with adult education. The three departments, which were established in 1966, namely the former Department of Correspondence Studies, Extra-Mural Studies (Later renamed as Department of Adult Education) and the Institute of Education were subsequently brought under the Centre for Continuing Education (C.C.E.).
Prior to the establishment of the C.C.E., the Department of Adult Education and In-Service Training used to offer a Post-graduate certificate in education (PCE) and a diploma in teacher education. However, the PCE was phased out before 1976 when the Department of Adult Education and In-Service Training started the Certificate programme in Adult Education. Later in 1979, the Department started offering a diploma in adult education.
On 28th December 1994, the Senate of the University of Zambia decided to restructure the Centre for Continuing Education. The Department of Distance Education (DDE) was taken to the Deputy vice-chancellor’s office, while the Department of Adult Education (DAE) was taken to the School of Education with the hope that the latter would operate more effectively. The undergraduate degree and master’s programme in adult education were introduced in 2002 and 2006 respectively.
The functions of the Department of Adult Education and Extension Studies are best understood when the department is split into two units, that is, Adult Education on one hand and Extension Studies on the other hand. A brief description of these two units is presented below.
Adult Education Unit
There are two main programmes under this unit namely the undergraduate degree and master’s degree in adult education. The programmes are designed to meet the needs of various people which include administrators responsible for adult education; agricultural extension workers, community development workers and adult education organisers and supervisors. In addition, the department has a programme in which students are allowed to take adult education as a major while a teaching subject is taken as a minor.
Extension Studies Unit
This unit is as old as the University itself and its aims have not changed at all. All the Extension Studies unit offices are located at provincial centres except for Southern and Copperbelt Provinces whose offices are located in Livingstone and Kitwe respectively. Each office is manned by an academic member of staff namely the Resident lecturer. Some of the functions of University extension work include the provision of study of a University nature, the promotion of links between the University and the community, and applying professional expertise in continuing education through collaboration, support and capacity building with other organisations in the areas of research, needs assessment, training delivery and evaluation.
The above functions are fulfilled through the provision of class programmes, seminars and public lectures. Class programmes are designed to cater to a variety of programmes that learners might be interested in. Currently, there are 18 certificate and diploma programmes that were approved in 2009 by the University of Zambia Senate. The programmes include Project Planning and Management, Law, Finance and Accounting, Infection Prevention and Control, Guidance and Counselling, Social Work, Public Relations and Adult Education. Seminars, workshops and public lectures are also designed and organised in many parts of the country in order to reach out to various groups of people.