ASSESSMENT OF CONTRIBUTIONS OF ADULT LITERACY PROGRAMME ON POVERTY REDUCTION

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ASSESSMENT OF CONTRIBUTIONS OF ADULT LITERACY PROGRAMME ON POVERTY REDUCTION

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Every government strives through investment to achieve development for the well being of her citizens. Development according to Nyerere (2006) is the expansion of man‟s own consciousness and therefore of his own power over himself, his environment and his society. Ofuebe (1992) defined it as a phenomenon in which individual and society interact with their physical, biological and inter-human environment, transforming them for their own betterment and in the process, lesson that are learnt are passed on to future generation to enable them improve their capacity to make further valuable changes. Development must be dedicated to the improvement of all round well being of people but it can only make meaning when the people for whom the development is meant for appreciate and understand the value of the services rendered. Hence, Sesay (1997) notes that development can be energy-sapping, time consuming and a waste of effort and resources, if the people for whom the development services are being provided are kept underdeveloped to the extent that they lack understanding of the value of the services provided and hence do not care to maintain and sustain them.

It is evident from the above that development is meaningful only when it is sustained. Hence World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) defined sustainable development as the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own

needs. Sustainable development must involve an all round development of the individual and the society. International Council for Adult Education (ICAE), (2006:89) notes that the essence of sustained and integrated balanced development is to achieve social, economic and political justice that leads to the liberation of mankind and in so doing eradicates such scourges as mass poverty and mass illiteracy. It is therefore evident that every nation has the preoccupation of providing sustainable development for her citizens.

Nigeria is one of the developing nations of the world with communities that are still highly underdeveloped. Eboh, Okoye and Ayichi (1995) report that about two- thirds of 85.5 million citizens of Nigeria still live in an estimated 97,000 rural communities. UNICEF (1990) then states that the lives of these people living in these communities are characterized by poverty, misery, morbidity and underdevelopment. Their income remains low and agriculture which is their major preoccupation has been on the decline because of lack of mechanization. Despite these handicaps, these communities still occupy strategic position in the development of the nation. UNICEF (1990) further notes that the rural sector of the economy provides employment for about 70 per cent of the nation‟s labour force and the inhabitants produce 90 per cent of the food marketed and consumed in Nigeria.

Despite all the development policies and plans rolled out by the colonial government and the Nigerian government to develop the rural sectors of the economy, the communities are still underdeveloped in most cases. Koinyan (1991) states that the poor state of development reflects cumulative policy neglect and faulty planning from

colonial period because there was no systematic programme for development, rather the development policy was an extraction of surplus from the communities to meet imperial priorities. Nwosu (1990) also opined that people living in rural areas are poor and still experience underdevelopment. The poverty he further notes is not because they are deficient in natural endowments but rather, as a result of the fact that they lack the potentialities to effectively and efficiently tap fully their valuable gifts of nature. One of the major ways by which the potentialities can be developed is through broad based education.

People‟s intellect must be brought to bear on development, as such there is need to empower people for development through education. Without intellectual development, all efforts towards development will be a waste. This is the idea behind human capital as a development strategy. People must be encouraged to help themselves to develop, using their intellect. Education at this point becomes a pre- requisite for development. Education is an instrument with which to change structures and ideologies that keep people subordinate. Through education people can gain access to resources, contribute to decision making, gain control over their lives, gain self respect and improve on their societal values and image. These are conditions for development. Nyerere (2006:78) in support of human capital development notes that “people cannot be developed; they can only develop themselves. Man develops himself by what he does, by making his own decisions, by increasing his own knowledge and ability, and by his full participation as an equal in the life of the community he lives”. Wolfensohn (2000) also reports that South Korea, Malaysia and

Mexico have given us ample evidence to demonstrate that broad-based education is associated with a wide range of indicators of well being, including a nation‟s increased productivity and competitiveness as well as social and political progress. Education is a basic human right and frees the human mind from ignorance and slavery for developmental purpose.

If education is an instrument for development, Adult Education which is an aspect of education has the potentiality of contributing to development through the empowerment of individuals politically, socially and economically. To Omolewa (1981) and Aderinoye (1997) adult education is an organized and sequential learning experience designed to meet the felt needs of the adults. Nzeneri (2002:7) opined that it is in adult education that emphasis is placed on lifelong learning, education as a process and agent of liberation, a tool for adjustment, for self and national development, for cultural awareness and integration, for conscientization and group dynamism. He then defined adult education as “any education given to adults based on their social, political, cultural and economic needs or problems to enable them adjust fully to changes and challenges in their lives and society.” Adult Education is an empowerment strategy through which adults can uplift themselves socially and economically to enable them participate fully in the development of their communities.

The development goals of adult education are viewed by Garcia and Tuan (1994) at three levels namely:

1. On the first level, adult education should seek to resolve the pressing problems confronting participants in everyday life in connection with their survival, their Economic situation and the quality of their lives

2. The second level should seek to integrate concrete activities in a corresponding Framework of medium and long range goals to transform society.

3. Initiatives on the third level help the popular masses become social agents capable of exercising their rights as modern citizens.

Adult Education is concentrating on programs and strategies that will help reduce poverty and facilitate development. Jorge (1996) states that educational processes like adult education are geared to strengthen popular organization, citizenship movement, the popular economic sector and local community development. Recent studies (Picon, 1990; and Palma, 1994) prove that adult education is the least conventional branch of education, the one with the greatest degree of heterogeneity and the one that is most closely associated with social and political development (Rivero, 1993).

The high priority given to adult education in the developmental process in some countries was brought to light when Jorge (1996) notes that in Latin America the non- governmental adult education sector took a highly critical stand on formal schooling and distanced itself from public education. According to him the rejection of the formal school model was as a result of the crisis faced by primary and secondary

education. He further states that during this period emphasis was placed on adult education, not only in the area of political orientations but also in the search for methods corresponding to the aims of social reformation. The role of adult education in raising the income of individuals for development is not in dispute. Studies on rate of return on investment in Adult Basic Education (ABE) in Indonesia, Ghana and Bangladesh show that in Indonesia an estimated rate of return to investment of about 25 per cent; in Ghana an estimated private rate of return of 43 percent for females and 24 per cent for males, along with a social rate of return of 18 per cent for females and 14 per cent for males while in Bangladesh an estimated average private rate of return as high as 37 per cent were reported (World Bank, 1986; 1999; and 2001), No 6304. No matter how uncertain these estimates are, it is obvious that investment in adult education programmes are productive and can increase the income of participants which can further be invested for developmental purposes.

The role of adult education is to empower people for change and development. This is why the developmental roles of adult education according to Nyerere (2006) incorporate anything that enlarges man‟s understanding, activates them, helps them to make their own decisions and to implement those decisions for themselves. In the same vein the aim of education including adult education according to Fafunwa (1974) includes the development of practical skills, character training, teaching respect for elders, teaching the values of honest labour, inculcating a sense of belonging and community spirit and promoting cultural heritage.

This study will determine the strategies Adult Education Programme will adopt to achieve sustainable development. Various challenges or problems that can inhibit Adult Education Programme from achieving sustainable development will be discussed. The problems in communities include – lack of good roads, illiteracy, low income, unemployment, poor electricity supply, degraded environment, absence of portable water and lack of adequate political structures and knowledge.

Nigerian government in recent times has made huge investments in education. However, it is disheartening that these investments are mainly in the areas of primary, secondary and tertiary education neglecting the area of adult and non-formal education. There has been progressive decline in Nigerian government‟s capacity to implement projects that respond to the needs of adult education in terms of personnel, funding, collaboration and methodology. It is against this background of underdevelopment of Nigerian communities and the critical role of education generally and adult education specifically in the development of these communities that the researcher intends to identify specifically what adult education can do and what it has done in achieving sustainable development.

Statement of the problem

Nsukka Local Government Area which is one of the local government areas in Nigeria is yet to achieve sustainable development. This local government, made up of various communities, is still characterized by serious signs of underdevelopment. Some of these general signs of underdevelopment as made manifest in the background of the study include unemployment, lack of good roads, inefficient communication

system, illiteracy, low income, absence of portable water, lack of adequate health facilities, degraded environment, inadequate technical skills, low agricultural productivity, poor electricity supply, and lack of adequate political structures and knowledge. This has made life very unconducive for the inhabitants of the communities. Despite all political structures and plans put in place in the past, these signs of underdevelopment have persisted.

Education in form of human capital development plays significant role in the process of development of any location or community. Hence, governments have invested heavily in formal education at all levels and in all forms to enable the formal schools produce the needed manpower for development. Adult Education for a long time has only received meager share of government‟s investment in education. This is mainly because people including governments do not have very clear knowledge of the potentials of adult education in achieving sustainable development. This being the case, it is now the problem of this study to clearly and specifically determine how adult education can be effectively utilized in achieving sustainable development in Nsukka Local Government Area.

Purpose of the study

The general purpose of this study is to find out how adult education can be utilized in achieving sustainable development. The specific objectives are as follows:

1. To investigate the characteristics of the adult education participants in Nsukka Local Government Area.

2. To identify the contributions of adult education in achieving sustainable development in Nsukka Local Government Area.

3. To determine the strategies adult education can utilize in achieving sustainable development.

4. To identify the challenges that inhibit adult education in achieving sustainable development in Nsukka Local Government Area.

5. To examine possible solutions to the challenges.

Significance of the Study: The result of this study will be significant in a number of ways. It will be beneficial to instructors and participants of adult education programmes. It will enable them determine the extent to which adult education is utilized in achieving sustainable development. It will also enable them contribute to future directors of adult education for greater effectiveness.

It will also be beneficial to Nsukka Local Government Area and other local government areas that run adult education programmes. The findings of the study will enlighten the local government administrators on the significant position adult education occupies in the development process. This will make them give better attention to adult education through better funding, personnel development and better organization of the programmes.

It will also be beneficial to Governments at both the national and state levels. The findings of the study will be an eye opener to those in government because it will help change their view of adult education as a disorganized programme. It will give them an insight into the real role adult education plays in sustainable development.

This will help them pay better attention to adult education and probably give adult education equal status with other types of education. This they can do through adequate funding and management of adult education programmes and through policy review.

It will be significant to adult education curriculum developers. Knowledge of the extent of the utilization of adult education in sustainable development will enable the curriculum developers determine how far adult education has succeeded in its quest for development. This will help them review the curriculum in relevant areas where they are deficient and also design new curriculum, as the case may be, to facilitate the use of adult education in development.

The study will also be significant to policy makers. It will enable them critically look at the current policy on adult education and determine the need to make the policy more relevant and stronger than it is at present.

Finally, it will be useful to the general public because it will help change the wrong image people have about adult education. They will know the role of adult education in development and accord the support needed to make adult education grow.

Research Questions

1. What are the characteristics of the adult education participants?

2. What are the contributions of adult education in achieving sustainable development in Nsukka Local Government?

3. What are the strategies adult educations can utilize in achieving

Sustainable development?

4. what are the challenges adult education faces in achieving Sustainable Development?

5. How can these challenges be ameliorated?

Hypotheses

The following hypotheses stated in null form were tested at .05 level of significance by the researcher.

Hypothesis 1: There is no significant difference between the mean ratings of adult education Instructors and participants on the extent to which adult education adopted the identified strategies or ways in achieving sustainable development.

Hypothesis 2: There is no significant difference between the mean ratings of adult education Instructors and participants on the challenges that face adult education in achieving sustainable development.

Scope of the Study

The study determined how we can effectively utilize adult education in achieving sustainable development. The study restricted itself to Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State. It covered the characteristics of adult education participants, the contributions of adult education in achieving sustainable development, the strategies adult education programme can adopt to achieve sustainable development, the challenges that inhibit adult education in achieving sustainable development in Nsukka Local Government Area and how these challenges can be ameliorated.

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