Influence of Adult Functional Literacy and Vocational Skills Acquisition Programmes on Poverty Reduction among Rural Women in Delta State., Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of adult functional literacy and vocational skills acquisition programmes on poverty reduction among rural women in Delta State. Two research questions raised from two objectives and two null hypotheses were used for the study. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. The population for the study comprised 1,276 participants in adult education programmes in the various centers in the study area. The entire population of the study was sampled because it was a manageable size. The instrument used for data collection was a closed ended structured questionnaire titled, “influence of adult functional literacy and vocational skills acquisition programmes on poverty reduction among rural women Questionnaire). The reliability of the instrument was determined through a pilot study, while Crombach Alpha Statistic Method was used to establish the reliability coefficient (r) value of 0.775. The responses to the questionnaire were analyzed with mean and standard deviation statistic. The null hypotheses were tested with Z-test statistic at 0.05 level of significance. The findings from the study revealed that adult functional literacy and vocational skills development programmes to a high extent influenced poverty reduction among rural women in Delta State. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that government at all levels, should fund the state agency for adult and Non-formal education to improve adult functional literacy programmes in communities to equip women with knowledge and skills required to reduce poverty among them, government at various levels should endeavour to partner with agency for adult and non-formal education to establish vocational skills development centers in most part of the state to equip women with skills that can enable them to make money for themselves and earn a better living.