Adult Learning Still a Nightmare in Kiambu

Following the shortage of learning centers for adult learners in Kiambu County, the number of people accessing adult education has gone down.

Speaking to KNA in her office in Kiambu, Mrs. Darimaris Waweru, a teacher for adult learners raised concern over the low turnout who recently attended the International Literacy Day at the Ndumberi station.

The idea of having most adult learning conducting their lessons in the local classrooms in the county was a clear indicator of lack of learning centers. She regretted that she sometimes was forced to conduct her lessons in the office because there were no designated classes.

Besides that, Mrs. Waweru told KNA that following the current national strike by teachers, the adult learners have also been affected as most of them are now staying indoors with their children who should be in school.

In addition, she cited other reasons for low turn up especially amongst men as drunkenness and high ego-involvement which the men feel intimidated and even ashamed to let their wives know that they were adult learners.

“Most adult learners who enroll are aged between 20-37 years. Considering this age bracket it’s dangerous for any society to have many youths who are illiterate because they make the majority of the population in the country”, she added.

It was recommended therefore, that more adult learning centers be established across the district and more teachers to be employed for the adults who missed out on achieving formal education.

 “Adult learners are good learners, self-motivated and very cooperative if only they could be given a different special examination and not the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) things would have been much better. She added.

An award certificate for appraisal or job promotion would have been superb”, she commented when asked about what could be done to motivate more adults to embrace adult learning.

Statistics however show that women are more empowered in adult education compared to men and this is a big challenge to the government to find ways to empower men in Kiambu through programs that will enable them to embrace adult learning positively.

The county adult education officer Martha Kiringo confirmed that there was a real shortage of the centers and also for teachers.