CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Non-formal education is organised learning that takes place outside the formal school system and is intended for out-of-school children, youths and adults. In Nigeria it includes basic literacy, post-literacy, continuing education, vocational and life-skills training. Whether such education achieves its purpose depends first of all on whether adults actually take part. The Fourth Global Report on Adult Learning and Education concluded that a focus on participation is key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, and it grouped the obstacles to participation into institutional, situational and dispositional barriers (UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning [UIL], 2019). Distance from learning centres, fixed class times that conflict with work, the cost of attending, and shame at being seen learning to read as an adult are typical examples. The Marrakech Framework for Action similarly calls on states to widen access to adult learning and to use a diversity of learning spaces and modes to reach those left behind (UNESCO, 2022).

Radio is one of the oldest and most widely available means of overcoming such barriers. It reaches people in remote settlements, does not require the listener to read, can broadcast in local languages, and can be received at home or on the farm at low cost. Belete et al. (2022) report that during the COVID-19 pandemic Ethiopia produced a series of radio programmes on business-skills training, which provided virtual outreach to a wider group of learners than the community learning centres could reach on their own. In Nigeria, the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education (NMEC) runs a Literacy by Radio project as one of its flagship interventions (National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education [NMEC], n.d.). The Federal Government has also announced plans for a dedicated radio station for adult and non-formal education so that lessons can reach learners in remote communities (Adeyemi, 2026).

Nigerian evidence on the effectiveness of educational radio for adults is encouraging but limited. Sanusi et al. (2021) studied 505 adult learners in the Lagos is Learning Project and found that 62.4 per cent used the instructional radio programme Mooko Mooka to prepare for classroom instruction and 53.5 per cent used it for revision. About 40.6 per cent listened three times a week, which the authors took to imply that frequency of exposure could influence literacy skills. They concluded that radio instructional techniques were effective in promoting adult literacy and recommended more radio listening sessions and community media centres where group listening can be supervised. That study, however, was set in an urban, largely Yoruba-speaking context and focused on literacy skill rather than on participation in non-formal education more broadly.

The need for such evidence is greater in northern states. Jigawa State is predominantly rural and Hausa-speaking, with an economy that depends heavily on farming and trading, and many adults live far from a learning centre. National estimates show that a large number of Nigerians remain non-literate: the adult literacy rate is put at about 70.4 per cent (World Bank, 2025), the National Bureau of Statistics reported in 2022 that nearly 80 million Nigerians (about 31 per cent) were non-literate (allAfrica, 2025), and regional disparities are wide. NMEC has itself said that its last national literacy data date from 2010 (“Federal Government directs NMEC,” 2026). In a setting like Jigawa, radio could be the difference between an adult joining a literacy programme and staying outside it. Yet it is not known how far the NMEC Literacy by Radio programme has actually increased adults’ enrolment, attendance and persistence in non-formal education in the State. This study was designed to find out.

Caution is warranted, however. Kolawole and Pusoetsile (2022) found that an adult basic education programme in Botswana produced no significant difference in literacy attainment between participants and non-participants, which they linked to weak effectiveness and implementation challenges. Akintolu et al. (2022) found that learner, facilitator and government factors inhibit adult learning centres. Radio does not remove these problems: broadcasts may not reach listeners because of poor signal, lack of receivers or electricity, unsuitable airtime, or absence of facilitators to support learning. The effect of radio on participation is therefore an empirical matter to be tested locally.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The NMEC Literacy by Radio programme was introduced to widen access to literacy for adults who cannot attend conventional centres. It is expected to raise enrolment, sustain attendance and connect adults to wider non-formal education opportunities. In Jigawa State, where distances are long and many adults are engaged in farming and trading, the programme could be especially valuable.

However, there is little documented evidence of whether it has in fact changed adults’ participation in non-formal education. Programme reports tend to count the number of listeners or centres, not the numbers of adults who enrolled, attended and persisted because of radio. Barriers highlighted in the literature, such as institutional, situational and dispositional factors (UIL, 2019), may also limit the reach of radio: some adults may not own a radio, may not have electricity or batteries, may not be free at broadcast times, or may not receive the signal. Women, in particular, may have less control over household radios and less freedom to attend group listening sessions.

Without evidence, NMEC, the Jigawa State Agency for Mass Education and development partners cannot judge whether Literacy by Radio deserves expansion, which components need improvement or how to link radio with face-to-face support. The problem of this study is therefore the lack of empirical evidence on the effect of the NMEC Literacy by Radio programme on adult learners’ participation in non-formal education in Jigawa State.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The main objective of the study is to determine the effect of the NMEC Literacy by Radio programme on adult learners’ participation in non-formal education in Jigawa State. The specific objectives are to:

1. determine the effect of the programme on adult learners’ enrolment in non-formal education;

2. assess its effect on learners’ attendance and persistence in learning activities;

3. find out the extent to which learners have access to radios, signal, electricity and suitable airtime;

4. examine whether the effect of the programme differs by gender, age and location (rural or urban); and

5. identify the challenges affecting the programme and suggest ways of improving it.

1.4 Research Questions

1. What effect has the Literacy by Radio programme had on adult learners’ enrolment in non-formal education in Jigawa State?

2. What effect has the programme had on learners’ attendance and persistence?

3. To what extent do learners have access to radio sets, signal, power supply and convenient broadcast times?

4. Does the effect of the programme on participation differ by gender, age and location?

5. What challenges affect the programme, and how can they be addressed?

1.5 Research Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses were tested at the 0.05 level of significance:

H₀₁: The Literacy by Radio programme has no significant effect on adult learners’ enrolment in non-formal education in Jigawa State.

H₀₂: The programme has no significant effect on adult learners’ attendance and persistence.

H₀₃: There is no significant relationship between access to radio (set, signal and power) and learners’ participation.

H₀₄: There is no significant difference in the participation of male and female learners in the programme.

1.6 Significance of the Study

Adult learners. The study will show how radio can be used to bring learning to those who are hard to reach, and which arrangements help them to stay engaged.

NMEC and the Jigawa State Agency for Mass Education. The findings will provide evidence for planning, scheduling and expanding radio-based learning, including the proposed dedicated radio station for non-formal education.

Broadcasters and programme producers. They will learn which formats, languages and times suit listeners.

Facilitators and community leaders. The study can guide the organisation of group listening sessions and community media centres of the kind recommended by Sanusi et al. (2021).

Development partners. Organisations that fund literacy and broadcasting initiatives will have a basis for judging value for money.

1.7 Scope and Delimitation of the Study

The study is limited to the NMEC Literacy by Radio programme in Jigawa State. It covers adult learners aged 18 years and above who are enrolled in, or listen to, the programme in the selected local government areas, together with facilitators, programme coordinators and community leaders. The content focus is participation in non-formal education, measured by enrolment, attendance, persistence and involvement in related learning activities. Literacy attainment is considered only where it helps to explain participation.

1.8 Limitations of the Study

The study is a case study of one programme in one state, so its results cannot be generalised to all states. Many respondents have limited literacy, so instruments will be administered orally in Hausa and translated by trained research assistants, which may introduce some variation. Radio listening is informal and often unrecorded, so estimates of listening depend on respondents’ recall. Because participation is influenced by many factors beyond radio, the study reports association and perceived effect more confidently than strict causation. Insecurity or bad weather may limit access to some communities; the researcher planned repeat visits and used more than one data source to reduce these problems.

1.9 Operational Definition of Terms

Literacy by Radio: the NMEC programme that broadcasts basic literacy lessons to adults through radio, sometimes supported by learner materials and facilitators.

Non-formal education: organised learning for out-of-school children, youths and adults outside the formal school system, including literacy, post-literacy, vocational and life-skills programmes.

Participation: enrolment in, regular attendance at, and continued involvement in non-formal learning activities.

Enrolment: formal registration of an adult in a literacy or non-formal education programme, including registration as a radio learner.

Persistence: continued participation in the programme until its completion, without dropping out.

Adult learner: a person aged 18 years or above who takes part in the programme.

Group listening session: a supervised gathering at which learners listen together to radio lessons and discuss them.

References

Adeyemi, F. (2026). FG opens radio station for adult education. News Agency of Nigeria. https://nannews.ng/fg-opens-radio-station-for-adult-education/

Akintolu, M., Uleanya, C., & Letseka, M. (2022). Examining key challenges in the programmes of adult community learning centres in KwaZulu-Natal. Journal of Adult and Continuing Education. https://doi.org/10.1177/14779714211070307

allAfrica. (2025, August 1). Nigeria: Basic education – Govt targets 80 million non-literate youths and adults. https://allafrica.com/stories/202508010056.html

Belete, S., Duke, C., Hinzen, H., et al. (2022). Community learning centres (CLCs) for adult learning and education (ALE): Development in and by communities. International Review of Education, 68. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-022-09954-w

Federal Government directs NMEC to enhance literacy data collection for adults and youths. (2026). Nigeria News Digest. https://www.nigerianewsdigest.com/federal-government-directs-nmec-to-enhance-literacy-data-collection-for-adults-and-youths/

Kolawole, O. D., & Pusoetsile, T. (2022). What difference does literacy make among adult learners? Impact of adult basic education programme in a rural community in Botswana. Journal of Adult and Continuing Education, 28(1), 227–251. https://doi.org/10.1177/14779714211007495

National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education. (n.d.). Literacy by radio. https://nmec.gov.ng/

Sanusi, B. O., Talabi, F. O., Adelabu, O. T., & Alade, M. (2021). Educational radio broadcasting and its effectiveness on adult literacy in Lagos. SAGE Open, 11(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440211016374

UNESCO. (2022). Marrakech Framework for Action: Harnessing the transformational power of adult learning and education (Seventh International Conference on Adult Education). UNESCO.

UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning. (2019). 4th global report on adult learning and education: Leave no one behind – Participation, equity and inclusion. UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning.

World Bank. (2025). Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above) – Nigeria [Data set]. World Development Indicators. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/SEADTLITRZSNGA