Established in 1961 as the Institute of Adult Education, the Department of Adult Education has grown and developed into a renowned provider of local and international personnel in the field of adult education. The Department assumed its present name in the early 1980s soon after the country attained its independence. It currently offers qualifications in adult education at four levels, that is, Diploma, Bachelors, Masters and Doctor of Philosophy on a part-time basis. The clients for these programmes have been from the specialist areas of:

1. Adult Functional Literacy and Basic Education;
2. Agricultural Extension;
3. Community Development and Training;
4. Co-operative Education;
5. Distance education;
6. Health/Nurse Education;
7. Vocational Education and Technical Training;
8. Workers Education; and
9. Gender Studies.

Graduates for these specialist areas have included policy makers, adult literacy trainers, nurse educators, agricultural extension officers, trainers in industry, in colleges and in polytechnics, and community development officers.