The Adult Education Program is established in the State Department of Education. The program shall assist in the development and strengthening of community education programs in school districts of the state and provide for the education of any person who is sixteen years of age or older, who is not enrolled in high school and is not required to be enrolled in school, who lacks sufficient mastery of basic educational skills to enable him or her to function effectively in society or does not have a certificate of graduation from a high school or equivalent educational experience, and whose lack of mastery of basic skills results in an inability to speak, read, write, or understand the English language constituting a substantial impairment of his or her ability and evidences a need for programs to help eliminate such inability and raise his or her level of education making it less likely that he or she will become dependent on others. The program shall be under the direction of a state supervisor appointed by the department.