The results of the study 'Who's going to adult education? - analysis of AEIMS data' (indexed at
TD/TAS 83.02), conducted by the Information and Research Section of the Tasmanian Dept of Education Office of Post-Compulsory Education and Training (OPCET), indicate that there has been a plateauing in adult education enrolments in recent years. The Adult Education section of the Tasmanian Dept of Education plans to develop a strategy that deals with increasing the number of past students returning to adult education classes and encouraging those who have not previously enrolled in an adult education course to enrol. In order to provide the information as to why people who know about adult education do not enrol in adult education in Tasmania, a telephone survey was undertaken of a random sample of Tasmanian adults (16 years or older) who knew about adult education and had not enrolled in a course for at least five years. Most respondents knew about adult education through the course guide inserted in the newspaper. The second most common source of information about adult education was 'friends and family' and the third was advertisements and articles in newspapers. The overwhelming reason given for not enrolling in an adult education course in the past five years was lack of time, with 'course times are not suitable' in second place and 'cost of the course is too expensive' in third place. Adult education has concentrated, it seems to a large extent, on ensuring that Tasmanians know about the courses it offers and such details as when and where the courses are presented. There does not seem to be a large effort put into explaining the benefits to be gained from undertaking a course, it being left up to the individual to recognise the benefits.
