Factors leading to low levels of participation in adult literacy programmes among men in Namwala District

Abstract

This presentation provides a summary of the study entitled ‘Factors leading to low levels of participation in Adult literacy programmes among men in Namwala District. The purpose of the study was to establish the factors leading to low levels of participation in Adult literacy programmes among men in Namwala District. The study had two main objectives with the overall objective being to identify factors which lead to low levels of participation in adult literacy programmes among men in Namwala District. The specific objectives were: to establish why men enrolled into adult literacy programmes; and to identify factors that inhibit men from participating in adult literacy programmes. The study employed a case study design. Semi-structured questionnaires and interview guides were used to collect quantitative and qualitative data. The sample size was 200 respondents as follows: 1 District Commissioner; 7 government departmental heads; 12 facilitators; 5 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) comprising 6 men in each FGD, bringing the total number of participants in the FGDs to 30; 50 non-participants and 100 participants. The study established that both basic and functional literacy were being offered and that men engaged in the programmes so that they could, among other things, be able to read and write and also improve their farming and livestock management skills. It was further revealed that some men chose not to take part in the adult literacy programmes because they felt shy, felt they were too old for any learning and that the programmes were a waste of time. The study recommended that the government constructs infrastructure specifically for adult literacy programmes and also that the providers of adult literacy programmes embark on sensitisation activities of adult literacy programmes.