ADULT EDUCATION AS A TOOL FOR EMPOWERING RURAL WOMEN FOR SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

ABSTRACT

This study investigates adult education as a tool for empowering rural women for socioeconomic development in Ovia Northeast local government area of Edo State. Five (5) research questions were raised to guide the study. A descriptive survey research design and simple random sampling technique was employed on one hundred (100) selected women in this study area. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection. The questionnaire was validated by the researcher’s supervisor and two other experts in the Department of Adult and Non-Formal Education. While the test-re-test reliability method was adopted to ascertain the reliability of the instrument. Data collected were analyzed by mean and standard deviation. The study reveals that the extent to which adult education is a tool for empowering rural women for socio-economic development is high. That adult programmes such as vocational training, skills acquisition programmes, literacy and numeracy programmes, entrepreneurship programmes, and distance education, promote the development of rural women. The findings also revealed that the problems militating against adult education in socio-economic development of rural women are: social and cultural barriers, lack of skills acquisition centers in the community, household chores, lack of vocational training center in the community, and lack of mobility.