FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — While much has been written about adult education in general, adult education in Africa has received little attention-until now. A University of Arkansas professor and his colleagues Ruth Otunga of Moi University and Maurice Amutabi of University of Illinois, funded by UNESCO, will write a book on the foundations of adult education in Africa. This book will be part of a series of four other texts.

Fredrick Nafikho, assistant professor of vocational and adult education, recently returned from a meeting in Botswana to begin gathering material and information for the book. He and his colleagues met to discuss resources and develop ideas for inclusion in the text.

"There’s very little work in this area that has been done on Africa," Nafukho said. "We’re pulling together information from all over Africa."

Nafukho and others see adult education as essential to developing nations that hope to enhance their economies and social structures. In addition, UNESCO feels that if Africa is to participate in the current globalization debate, then adult education must be given special attention.

"Education is a most durable investment," Nafukho said. "Once you have the knowledge, it remains with you and does not depreciate."

"Knowledge is a non -rival product," he said. "Thus if one knows how to add, two people can both add at the same time. A calculator on the other hand is a "rival" product-two individuals cannot use it the same time."

Indeed, studies in developing countries commissioned by the World Bank demonstrate that education has an effect on everything from purchasing power to health and longevity.

Adult education differs greatly from teaching children, Nafuko said. Teachers require a different set of tools and skills to teach adults.

He noted that the University of Arkansas has a long and distinguished history in adult education since the father of pedagogy for adults, Malcolm Knowles, served in the department of voactional and adult education here. The fact that he can consult with distinguished professors in the field of adult education such as professors Barbara E. Hinton, Buddy Lyle, Ok Park and Bobby Biggs is a great asset to the book writing process.

The book, "Foundations of Adult Education in Africa," will address many aspects of education, including who provides adult education, what counts as adult education, and what is the future of adult education in Africa. Other issues addressed include history, philosophical perspectives, access and opportunities, gender, globalization and policies and structures of financing adult education.

Other chapters will address adult education as a developing profession in Africa, education in the context of the information explosion and adult education in the context of social and political environments.

The book is part of a series sponsored by UNESCO. The books will be used in courses for the training of educators and development of adult education. They will be used as textbooks at the university level.