Unexplored opportunities for community education

Many small towns find the complexity of local, regional or national regulations and a lack of facilities deters them from making a coordinated, community-wide assessment of educational needs or interests, despite numbers of residents apparently being interested in adult, youth or preschool programmes, if provided. Local business skills are underdeveloped and villagers with some practical know-how are inexperienced in guiding the development of new ventures. Limitations on the number of students, cuts in funds for further education and the high cost of educational facilities hamper plans to bring such facilities to small villages, and young people from rural areas tend to go elsewhere for vocational training and employment. Often, even when a group of residents requests a specific course, it has to be held elsewhere because adequate facilities are lacking locally. The family unit seems to be left with the responsibility of obtaining continuing education, determining adult curricula, and providing education needs on a year-to-year basis, while the value of an imaginative pre-school programme is unperceived by many, so no attempt is made to coordinate or evaluate such a programme. Minimal career counselling is available close at hand and, because most people are uninformed about the opportunities open to them, many possibilities remain unexplored.