Challenges faced by adult education facilitators in the implementation of adult education programmes in Magumoni division of Meru south district

Abstract

Adult education is one form of education provided by many governments of the world. Sentiments have been published highlighting adult education, as one of the most important forms of remedial and continuing education which any government can offer to its citizens in order to enhance development, particularly in the rural areas. This form of education is provided through the efforts of facilitators who face a lot of challenges in their efforts to implement the adult education programmes. This study endeavored to find out the challenges faced by adult education tutors in the process of implementing adult education programmes in Mangumoni division of Meru South District. In order to carry out the study the researcher developed research objectives and subsequent research questions. Literature related to the study was reviewed. The study used the ex- post facto design of study and a population was determined. Sampling was done to select the sample of the population to be used. All the 15 adult education teachers were taken to participate in the study. A questionnaire was developed with items aimed at gathering the required information which was used to answer the research questions. After gathering the data, analysis was done using the SPSS and then the results were reported in form of tables, pie charts and bar graphs. After analyzing the data, the study found that the adult education tutors were not involved in the development of the teachingllearning materials used in teaching of adults. The study also found that the learning! teaching materials used in adult education were provided by the Ministry of Genders, Sports and Culture and were never delivered in time. The study also found that the materials were not easy for the learners to understand. It was found that the learning incidences were related by the learners depending on their needs. It was also found that the tutors participated in the selection of the learning incidences. The study also found out that the tutors were the major determinant of what was a priority to be learnt. The study found that the main method used in teaching of the learner was demonstration. Guided discussion was also used by the tutor while discussion was also a major method used to teach the learners. Some methods were also found to be more effective than others but the selection of the method to be used was a challenge to the tutors. Finally the study found that 73 % of the tutors said that mother tongue was the most effective media of instruction compared to the other languages. Based on the findings, therefore, the study concludes that the ministry of culture, gender and sports does not play a great role in the provision of learning/teaching materials. It also concluded that the materials are not current and therefore there is need to develop new materials to use in the teaching of adult education. There is need to write the materials in the local language in order to make the learner conceptualize what they are learning, also the learners and tutors are not given a free hand in the selection of the teaching methods to be used in teaching adults. The mother tongue should be used as the language of instruction for the adult education classes. Based on the conclusions drawn the following recommendations are made: The ministry of Culture Gender and sports decentralizes the development of materials used in the teaching/learning of adults to the district level. This is because the learners and tutors can contribute towards their development. The study also recommends that the material used in teaching/learning of adults should be delivered in time so that they can be available to the learners for use. Recommendation is also made to the effect that the materials should be written in the mother tongue of the community to make them easy to be understood by the learners. These materials should also be written in simple language for ease of reading. The learners also need to be assisted by the tutors in the selection of the learning incidences so that they can make sound decisions on what is to be selected for learning. The tutors should be encouraged to help the learners select learning incidences which are going to enable them to tackle their day to day problems. The ministry should allow the tutors to select the best teaching method they find suitable for teaching adults. On language of instruction the study recommends that the local language should be used as the language of instruction in order to make it easy for both the learners and the tutors to participate in the learning process with ease and confidence. Finally the study recommends that adult education teachers be trained in order to make them conversant with new methods of teaching adults.