The society has developed a number of agencies to carry out functions of education Socialization is a process which continues throughout the life of an individual and as a process of transmission of culture, it is very complex and has wide-ranging implications. There are various agencies, both formal informal and non-formal which directly or indirect contribute to the process of socialization.
The specific agencies involved in the process of socialization and the way they contribute to it are to a great extent relative to the type of society and the level of its development. In simple societies not only is the process of socialization less complex but also the agencies of socialization are few simple and informal. As societies grow in complexity, the process of socialization also tends to become complex, with arrangement for socialization tending towards more structured and formalized forms
Formal Education:
This is a traditional form of education. This type of education is imparted in a school or college. It is consciously and deliberately planned to bring about specific and special influence in the educand. So, it is synonymous with educational institutions. School is thus a formal agency of education. Education has a collective function. It has an objective to help the child to adapt to the social milieu in which he/she is destined to live. It is possible through education that society assures for its citizens a sufficient community of ideas and sentiments, without which any society cannot progress and perpetuate itself.
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Thus, education which is controlled and planned consciously by the state or its designated agency’ such as the school with certain specific objectives is formal education in such a system of education there are rigid rules for age of admission, content and duration of courses, procedures of examination, selection of elective subject etc. It is a well organised mode of education system.
Informal Educations are those which are not structured, not systematically organised, not regulated and not deliberately planned. Informal education does not observe any formalities, rules and regulations and discipline. Teachers, students, curriculum and methods are not definite and specific. There is no authority to control it specifically. It is a life-long process. It starts from birth and ends to death. Family, society, state, playground, field, library, neighbourhood, mass-media etc. come under informal agencies of education.
Non-formal Education:
Non-formal education refers to consciously organised and patterned instruction in certain areas of knowledge, skill or values, which takes place outside the school or similarly designated institutions, with flexibility regarding age, period of instruction and with a choice of what to learn. This is an arrangement wherein flexibility is the key word.
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The system is an open one with regard to various aspects of education i.e. admission, curriculum, place of instruction, mode of instruction and the time and duration of instructions. Open University, open learning and the distance education courses are the various examples of such a system. It is a very important mode through which India’s goals of universal elementary education and literacy are being promoted. The I.G.N.O.U and N.I.O.S. have been centrally operating from New Delhi and part time non-formal education centres are typical examples of this system. It has a slogan “Reaching to the Unreachable.”