THE ROLE OF ADULT EDUCATION AS AN AGENT OF SOCIAL CHANGE FOR IMPROVED STANDARD OF LIVING IN EGOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF EDO STATE.

This study was aimed at determining the role of adult education as an agent of social change for improved standard of living in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State. Five research questions were raised and examined to enable the achievement of the objectives of the study. The research design for the study was the survey research design. The population of the study consisted of five hundred and seventy (570) adult learners while the sample size for the study included a total of one hundred and seventy (170) adults selected from the ten (10) communities in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State. The collection of data for this study was obtained using a questionnaire titled “Role of Adult Education as an Agent of Social Change for Improved Standard of Living in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State Questionnaire.” The instrument was validated using the expert judgement approach while the test-retest approach was used to determine the reliability of the instrument. The data collected for the study was analyzed using descriptive statistics comprising frequency count and simple percentage. Findings from the study revealed that the people of Egor Local Government actually do participate in adult education programmes, and that adult education has made the people’s societal disposition positive or better. It was also found that adult education has not made the community people politically active, though the community people are actively involved in community issues, and that adult education has moderately improved the people’s standard of living. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that the people should be encouraged to continue their participation in adult education programmes. Efforts should be made to include or improve civic and political education in the programmes in the area so as to make them politically active, and strategies that can better the already improved standard of living should be encouraged.