CHAPTER ONEÂ INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDYÂ
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).
1.2Â Â Â Â 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.
1.3Â Â Â Â 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.
