CHAPTER ONE
1.1 INTRODUCTION
1.2 BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE
Adult literacy education is not new in
the history of man in Nigeria. Traditional Adult literacy education is the
oldest from of Adult literacy education which started with the earliest history
of any human community, this Adult literacy education may be said to be as old
as creation. Adult literacy education in Nigeria like other forms of education
was never neglected in the traditional society though it hardly appeared as a
topic for discussion. In the early 1920’s Adult literacy education was
organized in the evening for working class adult. Even then, the progress made
was quite slow, the result was, at the time of Nigeria’s independence in 1960
it was discovered that huge percentages of Nigeria adults were still
illiterates. Adult literacy education which was defined by UNESCO as;
A process whereby persons who no
longer attend school on a regular and full-time basis (unless full time
programme are specially designed for adult) undertake sequential and organized
activities with the conscious intention of bringing about change in
information, knowledge understanding or skills appreciation and attitude or for
the purpose of identifying and solving personal and community problems, went
down in the history of Nigeria education as one of the most dynamic eras in
Nigerians education innovation. Between 1950 and 1960, Nigerian leader made
bold attempts not only to primary education to most children but also to most
adults. After the Second World War, the need for mass education was felt by the
government and the people of Nigeria. In 1949, the department of education in
Lagos circulated a memorandum on fundamental education for adults employed in
commerce and industry. The document was a sort of guidance for the
organization, administration and curriculum of Adult literacy education mass
education projects and community development schemes were organized in Ilano,
Egbado, Ibadan, Ekiti and Ijebu divisions of the then western region and Udi
and Afikpo divisions in the eastern region and Lagos.
Making a case of enlightened citizens,
chief Obafemi Awolowo states: To educate the children and enlighten the
illiterate adults is to lay a solid foundation not for future social and
economic progress but also for political stability. A truly educated citizenry
is in my view one of the most powerful deterrents to dictatorship, oligarchy
and feudal autocracy. In November 1951, the central board on education endorsed
a national policy on Adult literacy education whose provision were that:
1.
The essential aim of Adult literacy
education is to organize facilities for remedial primary education for adults,
particularly in rural area.
2.
The first objective of all Adult
literacy education activities is to help illiterate to read and write, in their
language and thus enrich their own minds and take an intelligent part in social
economic and political development.
3.
The programme on Adult literacy
education should include such activities as home craft for women talks
discussions and practical community improvement projects.
4.
Women should be given special
consideration in the Adult literacy education programmes.
5.
Concerted efforts should be made by the
regional government to coordinate the activities of the genesis concerned with Adult
literacy education.
There
was a considerable enthusiasm among the people and the government of the then
three region (north, East and West) and adults education sprung up in many
parts of Nigeria, particularly between 1950 and 1956. In the then western
region production of Yoruba and Benin language readers and were started, film
and strips were introduce via mobile film units and special classes were help
for women. In the then Northern Region, adult literacy programme operated in
fifty-three (53) areas with one thousand, four hundred and seventy seven
(1,477) centres and an enrolment of over fifty three thousand (53,000) adults. In
1952, alone according to Pa Fafunwa (1974) six thousand five hundred and ninety
one (6,591) literacy certificate were issued to successful adult students.
One
of the early pioneers of adult literacy and community development in Nigeria
was R. E. Chadwick, the then district officer in Udi division of the then
Eastern Region, who organized literacy classes on market days with the
assistance of local teachers. He also involved villages’ heads and leader in
community activities. His efforts were recorded in early 1950’s in a popular.
Film called “Day Break’ in Udi. This Eastern scheme was widely acclaimed in
Nigeria and the East became a model for organized community development and self-help
for the whole in Nigeria. The free primary education scheme in the then western
region and the half fees paying scheme in the East diminished enthusiasm for Adult
literacy education scheme. This was due to the enormous cost of free primary
education which left little money for Adult literacy education. The Northern
Region had no free universal primary education scheme and consequently was in a
position to spend more money on adult literacy. Thus while Adult literacy
education scheme in the then East and West were at its lowest ebb in the 1960’s
in the North, it was intensified. This situation posed a problem confronting
Nigerian Government as they sought to modernize their society Ashiedu (1979)
said the:
Prevalence
of masses of illiterates citizens within the various countries of Africa
Nigeria inclusive constitute a bottle neck in any country effort to develop and
impedes political, social and economic progress. In full realization of this,
Nigeria has over the years developed strategies for the eradication of mass
illiteracy, campaign that will finally drive the nail through the head of the
illiteracy problem in the country. In Nigeria, studies in the planning and
implementation of literacy programmes have until recently not been considered a
prestigious part of University work unit since 1970’s however, research on
literacy has been encouraging, especially when UNESCO started to pioneer
functional literacy project and as the provision of free adult literacy as
contained in the 1979 Nigerian constitution following the government
seriousness on the eradication of mass illiteracy was the release by the
federal government, the national, policy o education which contained the
following objectives;
a.
To provide functional literacy education
for adults who have never had the advantages of any formal education.
b.
To provide functional and remedial
education for thjose young people who prematurely dropped out of the formal
school system.
c.
To provide further education for different
categories of completers of the formal education system in order to improve
their basic knowledge and skills.
d.
To provide in-service training on the
job vocational and professional training for different categories of workers
and professionals in order to improve their skills.
e.
To give an adult citizens of the country
necessary aesthetic cultural and civic education for public enlightenment.
f.
To ensure the execution and
implementation of the objectives of Adult literacy education as contained in
the national policy on education.
The
federal government launched a mass literacy campaign in the country in 1982
which was geared towards making the majority of Nigerians literate and towards
promoting the causes of Adult literacy education in the country generally.
Since the research study is an attempt to identify the problem affecting Adult
literacy education programmes in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State, a
background knowledge of the geography of the area is important Egor Local
Government Area is one of (18) eighteen local government area of Edo State a
background knowledge of the geography of the area is important. It is almost
situated at the beginning of Edo State, bounded by side to side with other
local government area Ovia South West Local Government and Egor Local
Government Area. It main tribe is Edo Language. Farming and trading are the
main occupation of the people with staple food crop like yam, cassava, maize
and vegetables etc.
Educationally,
Egor Local Government Area in Edo State has about 100 (hundred) primary school
and about 52 secondary schools and one private university, one polytechnic and
one College of Education, with these and other development her population
become dense. To bring education the area in the early 1950 which on till now
is facing a lot for its grass room implementation which the study intends to
identify.
STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Egor Local Government Area had made
tremendously progress in one field of Western Education. Within the first three
decades of this century, few primary schools were established by both
government and the missionaries and today the local government has many primary
and post primary school with tertiary institution inclusive. Despite these
remarkable progress and improvement made in the local government area of
Western Education the whole local population did not avail themselves of the
opportunity offered to them with the result that about 60% of the adult both
males and females are illiteracy, the local government limited Adult literacy
education programmes which today is faced with many problems likes;
a.
Lack of professional qualified and
experienced adult teachers.
b.
Inadequate primers and relevant text
books.
c.
Irregularities in attendance of adult and
the peer government (federal state and local) participation in the programmes.
The
researcher will also like to recommend measures which will minimize, if not
eliminate the problems hindering the improvement and progress of the Adult
literacy education programme in the Egor Local Government Area.
PURPOSE OF STUDY
The purpose of this study is to investigate
the implementation of Adult literacy education programme in Egor Local
Government Area with special reference to:
a.
Instructors/. Supervisors – The
qualifications and experience of Adult literacy education instructors and
supervisors.
b.
Primers/Text books – to find out how
relevant are the primers and test books to the Adult literacy education
programme.
c.
Library facilities – to find how
equipped the library was.
d.
Teaching Aids- to find out how relevant
the teaching aids are to the entry behaviour of the adult learners.
e.
Irregularity in attendance to find out
the causes of adult participants, irregularity in attendance to classes.
f.
To assess the extent of government
participation in the Adult literacy education programme.
BASIC ASSUMPTION
The general assumption which
underlines this study is that, there exists problems in the organization and
teaching of adult literacy classes and in the attendance of classes by adult
participants in Egor Local Government Area. The study therefore is designed to
test the following hypothesis.
HYPOTHESES
1.
There are not enough qualified personnel
for adult literacy programmes in Egor Local Government Area.
2.
There are no relevant premier and
textbooks for participants in adult literacy classes.
3.
There is no enough publicity or
mobilization for participants in Adult literacy education programmes in Egor
Local Government Area.
4.
There are no enough teaching materials
and aids provided for literacy classes.
5.
Occupational engagements lead to
irregular attendance by adult participants in literacy classes.
SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
The study will go to a long extent to
expose the problems affecting the implementation of Adult literacy education
programmes in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State. The result and
suggestions will contribute ways of solving immensely to the realization of the
left effectives of Adult literacy education programmes, in Egor Local
Government Area in particular and Edo State I general. Thus, it is hoped or
anticipated that, with the implementation of the suggested ways of solving the
problem by the authorities concerned with the conduct and organization of the
programmes, the adult participants will get the right quality of Adult literacy
education programmes.
SCOPE/DELIMITATION OF THE
STUDY
Nation wide various government and
organization established various forms of Adult literacy education like the
institution of continuing education, extra-moral classes functional literacy
classes, community development and literacy classes. But since it is not easy
to extend this research to all aspects of Adult literacy education and to all
local government area in Edo State, this study is restricted to adult literacy
classes in Egor Local Government Area only.
OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF
TERMS
a.
Adult literacy education: IN this
context, Adult literacy education mean – education given to these above the age
of twenty one (21) years-male or female, who have not been previously exposed
to any type of formal education or to those who could not complete their
primary education.
b.
Adult participants – Those adult who attends
literacy classes to receive lessons.
c.
Instructor – One who teaches adults?
d.
Organizer – A person whose sees to the
smooth running of adult literacy or programmes.
e.
Functional literacy – The use of Adult
literacy education to acquire knowledge and skills of different types to meet
individual needs and fosters national development.
f.
Primers – These are reading books
(readers) meant for adults and children showing every action on pictorial
illustration.