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Brief History

The Department of Adult Education and Human Resource Studies could trace its origin and development to February 1948 when the Department of Extra Mural Studies was established prior to the establishment of the University College of the Gold Coast.

As a liberal adult education department, its emphasis was on the development of the Gold Coast citizenry in understanding the development of the country, promoting literacy and improving the knowledge of the Gold Coast workers through workshops, seminars and community forums and community development work. In order to sustain this educational drive, the Peoples Educational Association (PEA) was formed in 1949 in line with the Workers Educational Association of Great Britain.

It was not until 1973 that efforts were made to introduce certificate in Adult Education programmes. Later, a Diploma and Post-Graduate Diploma in Adult Education were added. In the 1987/88 Academic Year a Ph.D. programme was introduced albeit with one foreign student from the Republic of Benin.

In the 1989/1990 Academic Year the Post-Graduate Diploma programme was up-graded into a Master of Arts programme and in the following year up-graded into an M. Phil programme.

Finally, in the 2010/2011 Academic Year, the Bachelor of Arts in Adult Education was introduced. Thus, gradually the Institute of Adult Education (later Institute of Continuing and Distance Education) became a teaching department as well as performing external functions through the Workers Colleges in the ten regions of Ghana.