ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAM AVAILABILITY AND ADEQUACY

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Brittan was the colonizer of Nigeria. Before 1925, the British government had a distinct education agenda for Nigeria. Colonial governments oversaw education in the colony, in cooperation with Christian missionaries and their headquarters (Fafunwa, 1974). The Phelps Stokes Fund established a commission in 1922 to investigate education in west and equatorial Africa, which included Nigeria, and issued a report titled Education in African. The paper stressed the importance of developing an adult and community education policy (Fafunwa, 1974). The commission's suggestion for the creation and implementation of an adult education policy was the first significant recognition of the need of developing adult education alongside youth education or schooling. The panel also emphasized the importance of community-wide education if genuine development is to be achieved through education (Ayo, 2000). Educating children in schools while the adult population remained primarily illiterate and uneducated amounted to a highly insufficient use of education in development. In 1925, the British colonial administration established its first education program for Nigeria, in response to the Phelps-Stokes report. Community or adult education were not addressed in any meaningful way in the policy or its implementation mechanisms. The colonial administration instead focused on school education. As a result, Nigeria missed out on a great chance to start developing adult education. The central board of education, on the other hand, approved an adult education strategy in 1951. The policy's stated goal for adult education was to organize remedial elementary education for adults (Omolewa, 2000). Basic adult reading and craft-making were offered. Women's engagement in adult education was emphasized in the policy. Adult literacy classes are springing up all throughout Nigeria as a result of the strategy. The people and administrations of Nigeria's three regions, East, West, and North, were very enthusiastic about adult literacy. The excitement was especially high from 1950 to 1956, but the free elementary education programmes implemented in 1955 and 1957 waned the enthusiasm and reduced government funding for adult literacy. Adult literacy was hampered by the large cost of free primary education. As a result, the first significant attempt at adult education fizzled or perhaps failed. The Ashby commission was established in 1959 to examine Nigeria's human resource requirements as well as the country's post-secondary education needs over the following twenty years, 1960–80. In a review of Nigeria's elementary, secondary, and post-secondary education, it was recognized that the country had achieved progress at these levels, and it was suggested that the country expand further (Lahm, 2002). However, the commission was strangely silent on adult education, and as a result, little attention was devoted to its growth. Despite this, adult education remained a glimmer in certain places that were left ignored by the federal government. Regional governments and volunteer organizations were barely able to keep it alive (Ash, 1998). Nigeria gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1960. Since then, multiple national development plans have been published, each defining the country's development aims and methods. None of the plans offered a clear structure or incentive for adult education growth. Nigeria's national education strategy was approved in 14977 and revised in 1981. The policy guarantees equitable access to education and pledges to eliminate illiteracy and encourage lifelong learning. Nothing has been accomplished in the areas of major growth of adult education beyond the identification of desired outcomes. For example, 28 years after the program was implemented, the literacy rate for Nigerians aged 15 and above is over 66%. (UNESCO institute for statistic, 2004). There has seldom been a robust, well-coordinated collection of programs proving the government's commitment to adult education as a strategic priority in Nigeria's development. Although the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education was founded in 1990 to monitor and manage adult education programs as well as undertake research on the growth of adult and non-formal education in the country, it has not been updated since 1990. (Ola, 1997). Neglect's repercussions and agenda for action education programs continue to function primarily as scattered, fragmentary operations that are not integrated into a cohesive, purposeful plan in pursuit of a national development goal. Due to a historical lack of enthusiasm and vision for adult education as both a strategic aim and a tool for national development, many government-sponsored adult education initiatives have been underfunded and executed haphazardly (Jane, 2004). Adult education curriculum are neither forward-looking or relevant to the economy's strategic goals, let alone the great majority of Nigerian adults' personal, social, and political development demands. Frameworks for planning and implementing programs aren't really groundbreaking. or the lack of or insufficiency of physical and educational facilities in the future. The neglect and marginal status of adult education may be seen in government-owned adult education training centers (Aderioye, 2002). Inadequate commitment to adult education development is not specific to Nigeria; it is a common occurrence in other African nations. The underdevelopment of adult education and education in general in Africa is due to a variety of causes (World Bank, 2001). "Financial limits, lack of policy consistency, growing massive debt, gender and linguistic issues" are among them (Omolewa, 2000).

1.2     STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

There appear to be two groups of people in Ose Local Government who hold opposing viewpoints on the availability and adequacy of adult education programs. The first group believes that there are adequate literacy centers, vocational centers, and other adult education centers in the state to accommodate adult education programs. This group of individuals believes that they are functioning admirably in all respects. The second group, on the other hand, believes that the problem that adult education programs help to solve is still widespread throughout the state. For example, poverty is on the rise, and the rate of adult unemployment is higher than previously thought (Omotola, 2002). Why are these issues still there despite the staging of adult education programs, this group of people seemed to be wondering. The researcher's interest is piqued by their uncertainty and decides to investigate if. Adult education programs have benefited the whole population of Ondo State.

1.3     OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The study's goal is to look into the availability and quality of adult education programs in Ondo State's Ose Local Government Area.

The study specifically attempted to determine whether:

i. Adult education programs are offered in the Ose Local Government.

ii. Adult education programs are routinely held at the Ose Adult Education Center, with no exceptions.

iii. Adult education programs beneficial to the elderly.

1.4     RESEARCH QUESTIONS

i. Are adult education programs offered in the Ose Local Government?

ii. Are adult education programs are routinely held at the Ose Adult Education Center, with no exceptions?

iii. Are adult education programs beneficial to the elderly?

1.5     SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This research is relevant in several ways. To begin with, the study is beneficial to those who fund or support adult education programs, including the federal and state governments, UNESCO, UNICEF, and a variety of other organizations, people, and foundations. These donor organizations do not promote waste, mismanagement, or fraud in any form. As a result, benefited adult education centers must exercise caution, responsibility, and openness. In that sense, this research is crucial. It acts as an unbiased and objective assessment of the state's adult education programs. Aside from its completion, the study will aid adult education centers in analyzing their success in staging adult education programs. The research would also act as a reference for adult education centers in identifying issues involving community members around the state. This study would also be beneficial to state and municipal governments. Because both levels of government would be intimately familiar with adult education programs in their respective local government regions as well as the state, this would be the case. The findings would, to a significant part, influence the federal and state governments in determining where income and project allocation should be prioritized. Researchers who may seek to duplicate the study in order to advance the frontier of knowledge will find it equally important.

1.6     SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study examined the availability and adequacy of adult education programmes in Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State.

1.7     DEFINITION OF TERMS

The following terms have been defined as they will be used in the study;

Availability: Is the proportion of time a system is in a functioning condition. It is often described as a mission capable rate. 

Adequacy: Is the quality of being sufficient for the end in view, “he questioned the sufficiency of human intelligence”.

An adult: Is a human being or living organism that is of relatively mature age, typically associated with sexual maturity and the attainment of reproductive age.

Education: Education is the formal process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills, customs and values from one generation to another, e.g. instruction in schools. 

Programme: Programme is used in all cases except for computer code, in which case program is generally used.