ISSN 2360-7963
*Corresponding author: Yusuf L Received: 10/4/2023, Accepted: 15/4/2023, Published 5/5/2023
Abstract: The importance of adult and non-formal education programmes to human and national development cannot by any standard be over-emphasized. Hence, adult and non-formal education programmes is recognized as a fundamental human right and the basis for national development. Therefore, for any development to take place, adult and non-formal education programmes need to be thoroughly assessed for effective implementation of adult and non-formal education programmes. It is against this background that this study sought to assessed the Adult and Non-formal Education Programmes for the Empowerment of Rural Women in Taraba State, Nigeria. Five research questions were posed and five hypotheses were postulated. The design adopted for the study was a descriptive survey design. The population of the study was 600 registered women. There was no sampling since the entire population was a manageable size. A twenty-nine-item structured questionnaire title; Adult and Non-formal Education Programmes for the Empowerment of Rural Women Questionnaire” (ANFEPERWQ) was used for data collection. Each questionnaire item had four response options of Very High Extent (VHE), High Extent (HE), Low Extent (LE) and Very Low Extent (VLE). The questionnaire items were faced validated by three experts. Two from the Department of Adult Education and Extra-Mural Studies and one from the measurement and evaluation unit Department of Science Education all from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The reliability that was collected from 28 respondents outside the area of study and a reliability coefficient of 0.77 was obtained using Cronbach Alpha reliability method. The data collected were analysed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions and t-test statistics was used to test the five hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSSversion26). The findings emerging from the study showed that, vocational education and functional literacy education among others, were carried out to a high extent. While funding of the programmes was done to low extent among others. Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations were made: State agencies for mass literacy, adult and non-formal education should make adequate plans to address the challenges of late distributions of instructional and learning resources to learning centres among others. However, the researcher believes that, if government can show high level of financial commitment and goodwill, it is hoped that implementation of adult and non-formal education programmes will be improved tremendously in Taraba State, Nigeria.
Key words: Adult and Non-Formal Education Programmes, Empowerment,Rural Women, Taraba State, Nigeria
Published by GERJ