CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Digital literacy is the ability to find, evaluate, use, create and share information using digital technologies. It has become a basic requirement for everyday life: banking is increasingly done on mobile phones, government and health services are moving online, small businesses sell through social media, and much communication takes place through messaging platforms. Adults who lack these skills risk a new form of exclusion in addition to the exclusion caused by lack of reading and writing. The Fifth Global Report on Adult Learning and Education emphasises that adult learning should equip adults to take part fully in social, economic and civic life (UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning [UIL], 2022), and the Marrakech Framework for Action urges states to strengthen adult learning that responds to a changing world, including digital transformation (UNESCO, 2022).

Adult and continuing education centres are natural places to teach digital skills to adults who did not acquire them at school. Aniagor and Ezenwa (2025) note that traditional literacy limited to reading, writing and arithmetic is not enough in the computer age and that adult literacy programmes need to become functional by integrating information and communication technology (ICT). In a survey of 205 facilitators and 50 administrators in skill acquisition centres in Enugu East Senatorial Zone, they found that incorporating digital tools in teaching basic and digital literacy made it easier for adult learners to understand reading and writing and to apply what they learned in daily life and work. They also concluded that using ICT tools improved learners’ perceptions of their own capacity to handle technology and their interest in it. Igwe et al. (2020), in a study in Nsukka Urban, reported that ICT plays an important role in helping adults who missed formal instruction, or who have reading and writing difficulties, to acquire and develop literacy skills. Castilla et al. (2018) found in a rural case study that older adults who continued to use a social-network-based system improved their perceived ability to handle ICT and their interest in it.

Digital skills also matter for livelihoods. Ojobo et al. (2023) examined the impact of digital literacy on the performance of small-scale businesses in Enugu State, which points to the practical economic value of digital skills in the State. Kwata and Ogunleye (2024) argue that digital literacy plays a crucial role in improving inclusivity and accessibility in open and distance learning environments in Nigeria, which is relevant to adult learners who study away from conventional classrooms.

At the same time, several conditions limit progress. Aniagor and Ezenwa (2025) observed that many skill acquisition centres are fully or partly equipped with technological devices but facilitators do not always use them in teaching, and that little research has looked at how far ICT is applied in adult literacy programmes in Enugu State. Akintolu et al. (2022) found that learner, facilitator and government factors inhibit adult learning centres. Adults may fear or resist technology, may lack devices, data and electricity, and may have low confidence, so exposure alone does not guarantee digital competence.

Enugu State has an urban and peri-urban population as well as rural communities, and continuing education centres there offer classes in literacy, post-literacy, and skills such as tailoring, catering and computer training under the State agency responsible for adult and non-formal education. Whether participation in these programmes actually improves learners’ digital literacy, as distinct from the extent to which facilitators use ICT, has not been examined directly. This study addresses that gap by investigating the influence of adult education on digital literacy among adult learners in continuing education centres in Enugu State.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Continuing education centres in Enugu State aim to prepare adults for work and for participation in society. In a digital age, this requires that adult learners can use phones, computers, the internet and digital services with confidence. Programme providers assume that adults who attend classes acquire such skills, either through dedicated computer training or through the incidental use of digital tools.

Yet available evidence in Enugu focuses on how facilitators use ICT in teaching (Aniagor & Ezenwa, 2025), and not on what learners actually gain. Research also shows that centres may hold equipment that is under-used, and that learner, facilitator and government constraints affect centre performance (Akintolu et al., 2022; Aniagor & Ezenwa, 2025). Adult learners may therefore complete programmes without being able to perform basic digital tasks such as sending messages, using mobile banking safely, searching for information or filling in online forms.

The lack of direct evidence on learners’ digital competence makes it difficult for the State agency and centre managers to decide whether to invest in devices, train facilitators or redesign the curriculum. The problem of this study is therefore the absence of empirical evidence on the influence of adult education programmes on digital literacy among adult learners in continuing education centres in Enugu State.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The main objective of the study is to determine the influence of adult education on digital literacy among adult learners in continuing education centres in Enugu State. The specific objectives are to:

1. assess the level of digital literacy of adult learners in the centres;

2. determine the influence of participation in adult education programmes on learners’ basic digital skills.

3. examine the influence of participation on learners’ ability to use digital tools for livelihood, financial and information tasks;

4. find out the availability and use of digital devices, internet access and trained facilitators in the centres;

5. determine whether digital literacy differs by age, gender and length of participation; and

6. identify the challenges to promoting digital literacy in the centres.

1.4 Research Questions

1. What is the level of digital literacy of adult learners in continuing education centres in Enugu State?

2. What is the influence of adult education programmes on learners’ basic digital skills?

3. What is the influence of the programmes on learners’ use of digital tools for livelihood, financial and information tasks?

4. To what extent are digital devices, internet access and trained facilitators available in the centres?

5. Does digital literacy differ by age, gender and length of participation?

6. What challenges hinder the promotion of digital literacy in the centres?

1.5 Research Hypotheses

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

H₀₁: Participation in adult education programmes has no significant influence on the basic digital skills of adult learners in Enugu State.

H₀₂: Participation has no significant influence on learners’ use of digital tools for livelihood, financial and information tasks.

H₀₃: There is no significant relationship between the availability of digital resources in the centres and learners’ digital literacy.

H₀₄: There is no significant difference in digital literacy between younger and older adult learners.

H₀₅: There is no significant difference in digital literacy between male and female adult learners.

1.6 Significance of the Study

Adult learners. The study will identify which learning arrangements best help adults acquire digital skills, so that they can take part in banking, business, communication and public services.

Facilitators and centre managers. They will obtain evidence on how to integrate digital content and use available equipment, building on findings that centres may under-use their devices (Aniagor & Ezenwa, 2025).

Enugu State agency for adult and non-formal education. The findings can guide decisions on equipment, curriculum and facilitator training.

NMEC and policymakers. The study provides evidence for national planning on digital transformation in adult and non-formal education, consistent with international frameworks (UNESCO, 2022; UIL, 2022).

Small businesses and financial service providers. They will learn about the digital skills of adult learners, which are important for digital services and for small-scale business performance (Ojobo et al., 2023).

1.7 Scope and Delimitation of the Study

The study is limited to continuing education centres in Enugu State. It covers adult learners aged 18 years and above who are enrolled in, or have completed, programmes in the selected centres, as well as facilitators and centre managers. In terms of content, the study focuses on digital literacy, understood as basic device use, internet use, digital communication, use of digital tools for finance and livelihood, and online safety, and on the resources and conditions that influence it. It does not evaluate literacy in reading and writing, except where this bears directly on digital skills.

1.8 Limitations of the Study

The study is limited to one state and cannot be generalised to all of Nigeria. Digital literacy is best measured through practical tasks, but time and equipment constraints mean that the study relies mainly on a questionnaire supplemented by short observed tasks with a sub-sample of learners. Self-reported digital skills may be over- or under-estimated. Older learners with limited literacy may need items read aloud. Because digital skills are also acquired outside the centres, for example through family, work and social media, the study can establish association and perceived influence more confidently than strict causation.

1.9 Operational Definition of Terms

Adult education: organised learning for adults outside the formal school system, including literacy, continuing education and skills programmes.

Digital literacy: the ability to use digital devices, the internet and digital services to find, evaluate, communicate and create information, and to do so safely.

Information and communication technology (ICT): devices and applications, such as phones, computers, tablets and the internet, used to store, process and transmit information.

Continuing education centre: a centre providing post-literacy, continuing and skills programmes for adults who wish to extend their education.

Basic digital skills: skills such as switching on and using a phone or computer, sending messages, browsing the internet and using common applications.

Adult learner: a person aged 18 years or above who is enrolled in a continuing education centre.

Digital divide: the gap between people who can access and use digital technology effectively and those who cannot.

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

Aniagor, E. N., & Ezenwa, A. O. (2025). Information communication technology in utilization of teaching adult literacy programmes in skill acquisition centers in Enugu State. Journal of Continuing and Development Education, 5(1), 179–189. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17064077

Castilla, D., Botella, C., Miralles, I., Bretón-López, J., Dragomir-Davis, A. M., Zaragoza, I., & Garcia-Palacios, A. (2018). Teaching digital literacy skills to the elderly using a social network with linear navigation: A case study in a rural area. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 118, 24–37.

Igwe, N. J., Kadiri, G. C., & Ekwueme, J. (2020). Impact of information and communication technology on acquiring the literacy skills outside the classroom among adults in Nsukka Urban. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 11(6), 881–892. https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1106.03

Kwata, W. B., & Ogunleye, O. R. (2024). The role of digital literacy in enhancing accessibility and inclusivity in open and distance learning environments. Nigerian Open, Distance and E-Learning Journal, 2, 11–19. https://doi.org/10.60787/nodel.v2.16

Ojobo, C. A., Orga, C. C., & Okechukwu, E. U. (2023). Impact of digital literacy on the performance of small-scale business in Enugu State. Advance Journal of Business & Entrepreneurship Development, 7(1), 55–67.

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.