CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Self-reliance is the capacity of an individual to meet his or her own needs, earn a sustainable income and make productive use of personal talents and local resources without continuous dependence on others. In Nigeria, the concept has long been attached to education policy, which seeks to produce citizens who can create work as well as seek it. Persistent unemployment and economic hardship have sharpened this concern. Awoniyi and Aromolaran (2025), in a scoping review, note that as unemployment and economic weakness increase in Nigeria, vocational education has become crucial for helping people acquire abilities in specific occupations and rely on themselves. Their review found that vocational education addresses the skill-gap problem and equips individuals with both soft and technical skills for lasting income, but that inadequate financial support, weak infrastructure and ineffective policies hold back its impact.

Vocational training is the organised teaching of practical skills for particular trades or occupations, such as tailoring, hairdressing, catering, carpentry, welding, computer operation, soap and cosmetics production and agro-processing. Adult learners who have little formal education often find vocational training more accessible and immediately useful than academic programmes, because it can lead directly to self-employment. Adult and continuing education centres therefore commonly combine literacy classes with skills training, on the understanding that reading, writing and numeracy make learners better at practising a trade, keeping records and running a small business. Ali (2024) discusses adult education as an alternative route to accelerated socio-economic development in Nigeria, and the Fifth Global Report on Adult Learning and Education highlights the role of adult learning in enabling adults to participate fully in economic life (UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning [UIL], 2022).

International policy points in the same direction. The Marrakech Framework for Action calls for adult learning and education that responds to learners’ needs, including skills for work and livelihoods (UNESCO, 2022). Belete et al. (2022) report that programmes in community learning centres across Africa mainly cover literacy, vocational and income-generation activities, and that outcomes reported by countries include economic empowerment and skills development for citizenship and entrepreneurship.

At the same time, the evidence cautions against assuming that training alone guarantees self-reliance. Kolawole and Pusoetsile (2022) found no significant difference in literacy attainment between participants and non-participants of an adult basic education programme in Botswana and linked this to implementation challenges. Nkansah (2022) concluded, from a study of two rural Ghanaian communities, that adult literacy does not necessarily lead to development unless it is connected to community-based, self-reliant action. Akintolu et al. (2022) observed that learner, facilitator and government-related factors can inhibit the progress of adult learning centres. These findings suggest that outcomes depend on how training is designed, resourced and followed up.

Pioneer Literacy Education Centre in Oredo Local Government Area, Edo State, provides adult literacy classes and vocational training to adults in and around Benin City. The Centre offers [insert trades, e.g., tailoring, hairdressing, catering, computer skills, soap making] to learners who come from mixed educational and economic backgrounds. Oredo LGA is an urban area with a large informal economy, which makes it a useful setting for studying whether skills training helps adult learners establish and sustain their own livelihoods. This study investigates the effect of vocational training at the Centre on the self-reliance of its adult learners.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Vocational training in adult education centres is intended to make adults self-reliant, that is, able to set up or work in income-generating ventures and reduce their dependence on relatives, government or charity. Large numbers of adults enrol in such training, and considerable effort and money are put into it. However, there is a widespread impression that many graduates of adult vocational programmes remain unemployed or underemployed, lack the capital to start businesses, or abandon the skills they acquired.

Awoniyi and Aromolaran (2025) identify inadequate funding, poor infrastructure and ineffective policies as major barriers to vocational education achieving its potential. Evidence from adult learning centres elsewhere in Africa points to further constraints on learners, facilitators and government support (Akintolu et al., 2022). It is not known whether and to what extent these problems affect Pioneer Literacy Education Centre, nor whether its learners are in fact more self-reliant after training. Records of graduates’ post-training activities are rarely kept, and no empirical study of the Centre’s outcomes appears to exist.

The result is that the Centre’s management, the Edo State adult education authorities and development partners do not have the evidence they need to decide which trades to emphasise, what equipment and follow-up support to provide, and how to link training to credit and markets. This study addresses that gap by examining the effect of vocational training on self-reliance among adult learners at Pioneer Literacy Education Centre, Oredo LGA, Edo State.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The main objective is to determine the effect of vocational training on self-reliance among adult learners at Pioneer Literacy Education Centre, Oredo LGA, Edo State. The specific objectives are to:

1. determine the extent to which vocational training has equipped adult learners with employable and entrepreneurial skills;

2. assess the effect of vocational training on the income-earning capacity of the learners;

3. find out the extent to which trained learners have started or are working in their own businesses;

4. examine the adequacy of training facilities, equipment, instructors and post-training support at the Centre; and

5. identify the challenges that hinder learners from becoming self-reliant after training.

1.4 Research Questions

1. To what extent has vocational training equipped adult learners at the Centre with employable and entrepreneurial skills?

2. What effect has vocational training had on the income-earning capacity of the learners?

3. To what extent have trained learners established or found work in self-owned businesses?

4. How adequate are the facilities, equipment, instructors and post-training support at the Centre?

5. What challenges hinder the self-reliance of adult learners after training?

1.5 Research Hypotheses

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

H₀₁: Vocational training has no significant effect on the employable and entrepreneurial skills of adult learners at Pioneer Literacy Education Centre.

H₀₂: Vocational training has no significant effect on the income-earning capacity of adult learners at the Centre.

H₀₃: There is no significant relationship between the adequacy of training facilities and equipment and the self-reliance of adult learners.

H₀₄: There is no significant difference in the self-reliance of male and female adult learners who have completed vocational training at the Centre.

1.6 Significance of the Study

Adult learners. The study will show learners which skills and support arrangements lead most reliably to self-reliance, helping them make better decisions about the trades they choose.

The Centre’s management and instructors. Findings will help them assess and improve curricula, equipment, instructional methods and follow-up support, and add entrepreneurship and business-management content.

Edo State Government and adult education agencies. The evidence can guide funding, supervision and policy for adult vocational programmes, in line with the emphasis on adult learning in current national and international policy documents (UNESCO, 2022; UIL, 2022).

Development partners and financial institutions. Organisations that support skills acquisition or provide start-up funding will gain insight into where support is most needed, for instance in tools, capital or market linkage.

Researchers. The study contributes to literature on vocational education and self-reliance among adults in Nigeria, a field where much of the existing work concentrates on youths and formal technical schools (Awoniyi & Aromolaran, 2025; Ali, 2024).

1.7 Scope and Delimitation of the Study

The study is restricted to adult learners who are currently undergoing, or have completed, vocational training at Pioneer Literacy Education Centre in Oredo LGA, Edo State, along with the Centre’s instructors and administrators. It covers the vocational trades offered by the Centre during [insert period]. The study concentrates on self-reliance as reflected in skills acquired, income, self-employment and independence from financial support, and on the resources and conditions that influence these outcomes. It does not cover formal technical and vocational education in secondary or tertiary institutions.

1.8 Limitations of the Study

The study is a case study of one centre, so its findings are not automatically applicable to other centres in Edo State or elsewhere. Respondents may be reluctant to disclose their income, and some graduates may be hard to trace because they have moved or changed occupation; the researcher used centre records, phone contact and repeated visits to reduce these problems. Because self-reliance is influenced by factors beyond training, such as access to capital and general economic conditions, the study reports relationships and perceived effects rather than proof of strict causation.

1.9 Operational Definition of Terms

Vocational training: organised instruction in practical skills for a specific trade or occupation. In this study it refers to the skills training offered at Pioneer Literacy Education Centre.

Self-reliance: the ability of an individual to earn a sustainable living through paid work or self-employment without continued dependence on others, measured by skills, income, ownership or operation of a business, and ability to meet basic needs.

Adult learner: a person aged 18 years or above who is enrolled in, or has graduated from, a programme at the Centre.

Entrepreneurial skills: abilities needed to start and run a small business, such as costing, record-keeping, marketing and customer relations.

Post-training support: assistance given after training, including start-up tools, credit, mentoring and market linkages.

Pioneer Literacy Education Centre: the adult and non-formal education centre in Oredo LGA, Edo State, that forms the case study.

References

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

Ali, M. A. (2024). Adult education as an alternative option for accelerated socio-economic development of Nigeria. Journal of Continuing and Development Education, 4(1), 183–197. https://journalcde.com/index.php/jcde/article/view/123

Awoniyi, B. K., & Aromolaran, O. F. (2025). Vocational education: Key to provision of specialised occupation for self-reliance in Nigeria. Euro Global Contemporary Studies Journal, 5(3), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15667534

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

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

Nkansah, T. (2022). The role of adult literacy in community development in Ghana: Perceptions and experiences of two rural communities. The International Journal of Community and Social Development, 4(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/25166026221110728

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. (2022). 5th global report on adult learning and education: Citizenship education – Empowering adults for change. UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning.