Education Beyond Barrier: A Case Study on the Aged Learners of KKHSOU, Assam

Abstract

Assam being one of the states in the Northeast region of India, occupies a distinct place in the field of education. From the last decade distance education system of Assam has become popular among the people of the state, especially for those who are working or are engaged in the household works and the elderly persons who are eager to enroll themselves for a course. Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University (KKHSOU) primarily focuses on women education and adult learners who could not complete higher education and who hailed from far flung remote areas and living in other disadvantageous conditions. KKHSOU with an approach of flexible learning options offers different courses to adult learners with educational tools including learner friendly Self Learning Materials (SLM), mobile apps, various online support system, counseling sessions, continuous assessment, workshops and seminars.

Against this background, this paper examines the determinants of adult learner’s enrolment into KKHSOU in Assam. The objectives of the study are to determine whether demographic factors like occupation, income and gender influences adult learners to enrol into KKHSOU; whether geographical factors influence adult learners to enrol into KKHSOU; to examine the “push” and “pull” factors to influence adult learners to enrol into KKHSOU. The sample of the study considers adult learners (above 50 years) from both Bachelor and Master degree programme of KKHSOU from its inception. The sample has been selected through judgmental sampling technique. An 18-item questionnaire named “Determinants of Adult Learners Questionnaire” (Balami Y.G and Sakir A, 2014) and questionnaire instrument based on pushes and pulls has been (Wallace L,1996) administered to examine the reasons for a adult learner to enrol itself in the courses of KKHSOU. Descriptive and analytical statistics has been used to analyse the data using SPSS 20. //Paper ID 161