Agricultural Extension and Extension Education, Type of Education & Rural Development: Meaning, Concepts, Importance, Objectives and Problems
Meaning and Definition:-
EDUCATION
Definition:-
“Education is the process of giving training and instruction to people to
develop their knowledge, abilities, skills, character and mental powers.”
“The
modern definition of education is the production of desirable changes in human
behavior- in knowledge (things known), attitudes (things felt) and skills
(things done), in all of them or in one or more of them.”
- Knowledge:- It includes facts, concepts, principles and relationship
- Attitude:-
An attitude can be loosely defined as a feeling towards some object, person,
and situation or idea.
- Skills:-
Ability to do things.
MEANING OF FORMAL, INFORMAL AND NON
FORMAL EDUCATION
Methods
of education:- Education must
be conceived as a lifelong learning process. Human beings learn mainly by three
methods through:
1.
Informal Education:- It is a lifelong educational
process by which every individual acquires and accumulates knowledge, skills,
attitudes, and insights, from daily experiences and exposure to environment at
home, at play etc Eg: Little baby, as she grows up, learns how to recognize
her parents and how to eat.
2.
Formal Education:- It is highly institutionalized,
uniform, full time, chronologically graded, hierarchically structured education
system which starts from primary school to university education Eg: Education
in schools & colleges
3.
Non Formal Education:- It is also organized
and systematic educational activity outside the framework of formal education
system to provide selected types of learning to particular sub groups of
population, adults, as well as children according to their need. Eg: Extension
Education. Extension worker improves the skills in cotton farmers on stem
application of pesticides
EXTENSION EDUCATION AND AGRICULTURAL
EXTENSION
Meaning and Definition:-
“Extension
Education is a science which deals with the creation, transmission and
application of knowledge designed to bring about planned changes in the
behaviour-complex of people, with a view to help them live better by learning
the ways of improving their vocations, enterprises and institutions.” - Reddy A
Adivi 1993
“Extension
Education is an applied science consisting of content derived from
research, accumulated field experiences and relevant principles drawn from the
behavioural sciences synthesized with useful technology into a body of
philosophy, principles, content and methods focused on the problems of
out-of-school education for adults and youth.”
- Leagans (1961)
“Extension
education is a professional method of non formal education to bring
desirable changes in knowledge, skills, attitudes and understanding of the
rural people to improve their social, economic and psychological status.”
AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION
“It
is a professional method of non-formal education aimed at inducing behavioural
changes in the farmers for increasing their income through increased production
and productivity by establishing firm linkages with research for solving farmer’s
problems ensuring adequate and timely supply of inputs and using proven methods
of communication for speeding of the process of diffusion and adoption of
innovations.”
-Y.C. Sanoria
“It may be defined as a
special branch of Extension Education which deals with the economic and social
aspects of people engaged in or associated with agriculture.”
- National
Commission on Agriculture, 1976
RURAL DEVELOPMENT
"India
lives in its villages" - Mahatma Gandhi.
MEANING
AND DEFINITIONS
Rural:-
According to International Encyclopedia of Social Sciences, there is a broad
general consensus that the term rural refers emphatically to population living
in the area of low density and to small settlements.
Development:-
“The term development, according to Lale (1975) – is a process of improving
standards of the masses of the low income population residing in rural areas
making the process of rural development self-sustaining”.
Rural
Development is a strategy to improve the economic and social life of a specific
group of people the rural poor, including small and marginal farmers, tenants
and landless Rural Development is an improvement in the living standards of the
masses of low income population residing in rural areas and making the process
self sustaining The term rural development combines two words Rural and
Development.
The
term Rural and Development is used in different ways:-
- As a Concept – Development of Rural areas
- As a phenomenon - Interaction between institutional factors
- As a Strategy- Approach to bring positive change in rural life
CONCEPTS
OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT:- According to World Bank (1975) – the rural
development in general terms, is a strategy designed to improve economic and
social life of people in a rural settlement and in particular, it focuses
attention on the rural poor comprising the small and marginal farmers, tenants,
and landless labourers.
- Rural development is the dynamic process of development of the rural people through various programmes and projects so that they can become self-reliant citizens of the country. The work is done by involving various agencies and organizations, and above all, the local people themselves.
- It involves extending the benefits of development to the poorest among those who seek a livelihood in the rural areas. The group includes small scale farmers, tenants and the landless.
- As a phenomenon, rural development is the end result of interaction between various physical, technological, economic, socio-cultural and institutional factors. motivate the people for adoption.
- As a strategy, it is designed to improve the economic and social wellbeing of a specific group of people – the rural poor.
- As a discipline, it is multidisciplinary in nature, representing an interaction of agricultural, social, behavioral, engineering and management sciences.
- In the words of Robert Chambers (1983), Rural development is a strategy to enable a specific group of people, poor rural women and men, to gain for themselves and their children more of what they want and need. The group includes small-scale farmers, tenants and landless.
- Rural Development is a process of developing and utilizing natural and human resources, technologies, infrastructural facilities, institutions and organizations, and government policies and programmes to encourage and speed up economic growth in rural areas, to create jobs and to improve the quality of rural life towards self-sustenance.
OBJECTIVES OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
- Providing goods and services in terms of social and economic infrastructure
- Increasing the income of every rural family on a self sustaining basis
- Creation of additional employment opportunities in rural areas.
- It implies a broad based reorganization and mobilization of the rural masses so as to enhance their capacity to cope effectively with the daily tasks of their lives and with changes consequent upon this.
- Improvement of services or rural masses in the process.
- Improvement of know-how, which is to be implemented to the rural people.
According to Singh (1999), the main objectives of rural development in all societies, irrespective of their economic, political and socio-cultural systems are:
- To make available and improve the distribution of life-sustaining goods, such as food, clothes, shelter, health and security;
- To raise per capita purchasing power and improve its distribution by providing better education, productive and remunerative jobs and cultural amenities;
- To expand the range of economic and social choices to individuals by freeing them from servitude and dependence.
IMPORTANCE OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Social
significance
- Innumerable rural problems
- Social change
- Best utilization of resources
- Infrastructural facilities
Economic
Significance
- National Income
- Employment and Source of livelihood
- Fuel and fodder
- Industrial Development
- Internal Trade and Transport
- International trade
- International ranking
- Capital formation and Investment
Political
Significance
- Political stability
PROBLEMS
IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT
- Most people are illiterate- for such people extension teaching methods like Demonstrations, individual and group approaches, Training classes require large number of extension workers.
- Inadequate communication channels especially Mass Media in rural areas
- Limitation of Funds and staff for training the farmers
- As a traditional society with old ways and practices does not want to take risk unless they see the results.
- In an illiterate traditional society real leadership could not come forward.
- Preaching to rural people and educating them in new techniques require specialized skilled workers. It is very expensive to produce such workers.
- Communities and individuals differ in their needs as their circumstances change.
- Organizational constraints
- Vaguely framed objectives of Organization
Thank
You
Vikas Kumar:)
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