Extension education
Extension education is an applied social science consisting of relevant content derived from physical, biological and social sciences and in its own process synthesised into a body of knowledge, concepts, principles and procedures oriented to provide non-credit out of school education largely for adults. - Paul Leagans (1971).
Extension service refers to a program for agricultural development and rural welfare which (usually) employees the extension process as a means of program implementation.
Extension process is that of working with rural people through out of school education along those lines of their current interest and need which are closely related to gaining a livelihood improving the physical level of living of rural families and fostering rural community welfare.
Scope of Extension Education
Extension appears to have unlimited scope in situations where there is need for creating
awareness amongst the people and changing their behaviour by informing and educating them.
Kelsey and Hearne (1967) identified nine areas of programme emphasis, which indicate the
scope of agricultural extension.
1. Efficiency in agricultural production.
2. Efficiency in marketing, distribution and utilisation.
3. Conservation, development and use of natural resources.
4. Management on the farm and in the home.
5. Family living.
6. Youth development.
7. Leadership development.
8. Community development and rural area development.
9. Public affairs
Extension is an integral part of agricultural and rural development programmes in India.
The progress in production which has been achieved in agriculture, horticulture, animal
husbandry, veterinary, fishery, social forestry, sericulture etc., may be thought of as proportional
to the strength of extension service of the relevant government departments.
General objectives (Function): The general objectives of the extension are1. To assist people to discover and analyse their problems, their felt and unfelt needs.
2. To develop leadership among people and help them in organising groups to solve their
problems.
3. To disseminate information based on research and /or practical experience, in such a manner
that the people would accept it and put it into actual practice.
4. To keep the research workers informed of the peoples' problems from time to time, so that
they may offer solutions based on necessary research.
5. To assist people in mobilising and utilizing the resources which they have and which they
need from outside.
Eg.: To increase the a production and productivity of Paddy in India.
Principles of Extension
1. Extension is an organisation to plan, execute and evaluate programmes with the people, and
not for the people.
2. Extension is an organisation set up to teach people and motivate them to action, not to dictate
what people should do.
3. Extension should help people to help themselves.
4. Extension should be based on felt needs and enlightened desires of the people.
5. Extension should reach the people where they are.
6. Extension aims and objectives should not be rigid but it should be flexible
(Time, date etc.)
7. Extension should change the people and not the subject matter.
8. Extension should work in harmony with the culture of the people.
9. Democratic procedures must be adopted in the formulation and execution of the programmes
(group ideas only).
10. The designated programmes should give greatest benefit to greatest number of people in a
society.
