Hope for Adult Education

Adult education is often overpowered by other education crises that affect the K-12 grades. However, the education of our adults should not be overlooked.

The U.S. Education Department released statistics showing that at least 32 million U.S. adults lack basic prose literacy skill (State and County Estimates of Low Literacy). Adults who are not literate or do not have proper education cannot function within the standards of society. This leads to increased unemployment rates and prompts additional economic distress.

President Obama hopes to repair this nationwide issue. One focus of President Barack Obama’s education reform includes adults having the ability to go back to school.

This would allow new opportunities for adults to get a better education for themselves and eventually lead to better career choices, especially because jobs are becoming much more difficult to obtain without a college education. Although it seems like a harsh reality, these new standards would allow society to become more efficient.

If adults are more educated, they can perform and function better in society. In contrast, if they do not have the proper education, they will most definitely struggle in the future. But if adults have access to education in the future, it would make them more capable of taking on professions. It would also lessen the stress of students now who are worried for the future. If students find themselves with insufficient education for a profession or career they want, they will still have the opportunity to go back to school.

I think these changes would secure a better future for us. Societies today and in the future will require us to go to college to make a suitable living. As this trend continues, more and more jobs will require an associate degree to be more competitive in the field.

The choice is essentially to get an education or face an impoverished life, and that is rather scary. However, if adults get the opportunity to go back to school, it would lessen the fear of failure. I believe that if students now fail to meet the requirements for a job because of their education, then they still have a chance. Giving everybody a chance to be successful makes the future seem less bleak during this economic recession.

Ultimately, it would guarantee that everybody has the opportunity for a better life, because schooling will still be available to adults and not just students. Most importantly, these reforms in adult education bring emphasis on the tools needed for the future.  As Obama said, “The future belongs to the nation that best educates its citizens — and my fellow Americans, we have everything we need to be that nation” (Obama Calls for Overhaul of Education System).


About the Author: Julianne Capati is a junior at Empire High School and enjoys artistic perspectives.

SOURCES
Roy Britt, Robert. "14 Percent of U.S. Adults Can’t Read." Live Science: Culture. Live Science, 10 January 2009. Web. 8 February 2010.
Zeleny, Jeff. “Obama Calls for Overhaul of Education.” The Caucus. The New York Times, 10 March 2009. Web. 9 February 2010.
" State and County Estimates of Low Literacy." nces.ed.gov. IES National Center for Education Statistics. Web. 8 February 2010.