India

Abstract

India stands a dismal 73rd in the list of 91 countries, according to an UN-sponsored study on the well-being of ‘the elderly’ in a rapidly ageing world. India’s position in terms of employment and education of older people is relatively low when compared to other developing countries. Older Persons and Adult Learning (OPAL) has not really made much of headway in India owing to a number of social, economic, psychological and political reasons. In this chapter, an overview is presented of the situation of India’s older population, older adult education within the context of the national education policy, specific national policy on older persons, the place of India’s older persons in the scenario of higher education and adult education programmes including open and distance learning facilities. In addition, major issues facing the largest democracy of the world concerning older persons and adult learning are analysed in terms of demographic, social, economic, psychological and cultural barriers. The possible future trends in OPAL are also analysed. Finally, specific recommendations have been made to create more opportunities for OPAL, to strengthen existing even rudimentary and scattered initiatives across the nation, highlighting one contemporary, micro-level success story of OPAL in northern India.