The Government was urged yesterday to begin a major investment programme in adult education in order to meet its own targets for the sector.
AONTAS, the National Adult Education Association, said the sector was vital to the State's continuing economic and social development but was being treated as "the Cinderella" of the education system.
The organisation held a meeting in Kilkenny for the first regional launch of its pre-election "Three Rs" campaign, aimed at securing political support for its demands for better recognition, more resources and improved representation for the sector.
The campaign will involve the distribution of 10,000 leaflets to adult learning groups, further regional meetings in Galway, Sligo, Cork and Dublin and lobbying of politicians and political parties.
Ms Berni Brady, the organisation's director, said progress had been made in the last few years but much remained to be done in terms of delivery of the investment commitments in adult education made by the Government.
"AONTAS is disappointed at the delay in implementing the recommendations of the welcome and long-awaited White Paper on Adult Education, which was published in August 2000. Investment is urgently needed in a number of areas if the Government's own targets are to be met," she said.
AONTAS's investment priorities include free access for all to upper second-level education under the Back to Education initiative, a five-fold increase for the community education sector under the National Development Plan and a major increase in funding for the National Adult Literacy Programme.
"A massive investment programme is needed to address the needs of the 500,000 adults with literacy problems in this country," she said.
The group was also calling for a £10 million allocation in the Budget to be invested in premises and equipment for adult education groups. "Research indicates that only one-fifth of locally based groups have access to school premises."
It should also be a Government priority, she said, that the National Adult Learning Council and the Local Adult Learning Boards be established within the next year "to provide inclusive and accountable structures for the adult education sector".
AONTAS says that while Ireland prides itself on the quality of its education system, the reality for many adults is different. Only 31 per cent of those aged between 55 and 64 have completed second-level education, compared to 67 per cent of people aged from 25 to 34.
There are 42,800 women aged between 15 and 54 engaged in home duties whose highest level of attainment is primary education, while mature students account for only 5 per cent of those in full-time higher education, well below the average of Western countries, the organisation said.
