Project Abstract

<p> The central focus of this study was to ascertain the community<br>education needs of community based organizations leaders in<br>Anambra State of Nigeria. To guide this study, five research<br>questions were posed and three null hypotheses were formulated<br>and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted a<br>descriptive survey design. The population for the study comprised<br>1,701 executive members of the 189 registered community based<br>organizations in the 21 local government areas that make up the<br>three senatorial zones of Anambra State. The sample consisted of<br>1071 executive members of community based organizations<br>selected through stratified random sampling. The internal<br>consistency reliability coefficient obtained for each of the clusters<br>I-V were 0.89, 0.88, 0.87, 0.86 and 0.92 respectively while the<br>overall reliability coefficient was 0.88. Questionnaire was the<br>instrument used for data collection. Mean was used to analyze the<br>research questions while t-test was used to test the null<br>hypotheses. Among the major findings of the study were that the<br>respondents agreed that they need basic, social, political,<br>economic, and cultural education to improve or further lead as<br>required, there was no significant difference in the mean ratings of<br>the literate and non-literate; respondents on the basic education<br>needs there was significant difference in the mean ratings of<br>married and single respondents on social education needs; and<br>there was no significant difference in the mean ratings of the<br>urban based and rural based respondents on political education<br>needs. It was recommended that the Agency for Mass Literacy,<br>Adult and Non-formal Education in Anambra State should mount<br>campaign in the rural communities on the need for community<br>education programmes, that community education centres should<br>be established in the rural areas and qualified adult educators<br>employed to facilitate the programmes, policy makers and other<br>administrators in mass literacy, adult and non-formal education<br>should reflect the needs of the community in policy formulation. <br></p>

Project Overview

<p> NTRODUCTION<br>Background to the Study<br>Within the community framework, there is need for people to<br>be educated. It is vital because without it, people may not function<br>effectively. Community education is one form of education that will<br>bring about positive change among the people in the community.<br>Ezumah (2004) sees community education as a process aimed at<br>raising consciousness, spreading understanding, and providing<br>the necessary skills, including the human and material resources<br>for the social, economic, political and cultural development.<br>Findsen (2006) defined community education as an organized<br>learning activity that groups or individuals undertake for the<br>personal, community, cultural or economic development. It<br>touches all other areas of learning but its primary focus is the<br>adult as learner and the community as the context. Akande (2007)<br>sees community education as the type of education needed to<br>engender self-confidence, self-respect, and personal independence<br>as well as to safeguard human rights and achieve social equality.<br>Contextually, community education is the education that<br>promotes the integrated involvement of community members in the<br>effort to bring about desirable social change. It is education for<br>peoples empowerment to take control over their own lives. In other<br>words, it is an educational process whereby people, collectively<br>1<br>2<br>learn to help themselves and improve their lives. It is the need for<br>improving the quality of life in the community that brought about<br>the activities of community education.<br>According to Anyanwu (2002), community education is not a<br>new phenomenon of human living. For example, in Nigeria<br>traditional communities, people had been practising indigenous<br>community education before the advent of the early missionaries<br>and the colonial administration. The traditional apprenticeship<br>programmes were plausible forms of community education. Such<br>programmes were run in the areas of health, agriculture, arts and<br>crafts and constituted a recognized way of inducing enlightenment.<br>In the area of health, community education tends to emphasize<br>better sanitation and water supply, proper hygiene and housing,<br>and improved infant and maternal welfare. In the field of<br>agriculture, community education was in the area of sensitizing<br>people on the methods of farming to improve their productivity,<br>better care of livestocks. Anyanwu further stated that with the<br>introduction and general acceptance of the Western system of<br>education and culture, there was a gradual decline in enthusiasm<br>for erstwhile indigenous community education with corollary<br>problems of illiteracy, unemployment, underdevelopment, poverty,<br>armed robbery, kidnapping, and youth restiveness in Nigeria. This<br>indicates the inadequacy of formal school system of Western<br>Education alone to meet the socio-economic and cultural needs of<br>the Nigerian society.<br>3<br>Formal education having been unable to address most<br>community concerns alone, policy makers came up with the idea<br>of non-formal education. Non-formal education according to Ngwu<br>(2003:41) can be defined as:<br>any planned and consciously organized general<br>education and /or training activity outside the formal<br>school in a particular society for illiterates, school<br>leavers, dropouts or other adults, as individuals or in<br>groups, for the purpose of raising their consciousness<br>of their social situation and their standard of living,<br>improving their individual or collective efficiency in<br>their jobs or preparing them for self-employment, wage<br>employment or further training within the existing<br>education/training system.<br>Non-formal education is focusing on teaching people to improve<br>their basic level of subsistence, as well as there standards of<br>nutrition and general health, participate in determining the nature<br>and content of programmes of community education, and acquire<br>knowledge and skills which can immediately be put into practice to<br>solve community problems. In these ways, non-formal education<br>becomes an important tool for community education to provide<br>social change for better living in the community. Non-formal<br>education provides the viable educational alternatives that will<br>enable different categories of completers to further their education.<br>In 2004, the Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-formal Education<br>came up with strong emphasis on all forms of functional education<br>such as community education that was enshrined in the National<br>Policy on Education (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004). In the<br>document, it was clearly stated that efforts shall be made to relate<br>education to overall community needs. To realize this objective<br>locally and globally, the fifth World Conference on Community<br>4<br>Education was convened in 1987 in Nairobi, Kenya where the<br>proponents and practitioners of community education from 40<br>countries in all continents affirmed their commitment to the goal<br>of community education: to raise the consciousness and enhance<br>the initiative of people in solving their problems in the spirit of selfreliance<br>and self determination (Akande, 2007).<br>Ezumah (2004) stated that the non-formal nature of<br>community education operational strategies determines its<br>objectives. He went on to state that the primary objective of nonformal<br>community education is to return education to the people<br>in the community. Community Based Organization (CBO) leaders,<br>therefore, need this type of education (community education). This<br>is the type of education that will provide them with certain types of<br>knowledge, skills, understanding, courage, perceptivity, and<br>foresight in community leadership. The National Libraries of<br>Medicine (2007) defined community based organizations as public<br>or private non-profit organizations that are representatives of a<br>community or a significant segment of a community, and are<br>engaged in meeting human, educational, environmental, or public<br>safety community need. Thus, community based organizations<br>refer to all the organizations based in the community and set by<br>the community for the purposes of enhancing the well-being of the<br>community members. Each community based organization has its<br>own leaders and the essence of the leadership is to direct activities<br>and have enormous responsibility to direct what they are doing<br>within CBOs.<br>Abiona (2009) sees community leaders as volunteers and<br>agents of change that motivate and mobilize their people to<br>5<br>improve their communities. They are members of their community<br>who are familiar with the culture, social organization, structure,<br>and values of their community. In other words, community leaders<br>are the leaders of different community based organizations set-up<br>by the community who are often formed to improve the standard of<br>living in their community. Because community leaders occupy this<br>position, they need to be educated within the context of the<br>community. In realization of this, successive Nigerian governments<br>have intensified efforts in initiating national development<br>programmes to promote community education. Such programmes<br>include: Mass Mobilization, Social Justice, and Economic Recovery<br>(MAMSER), Family Support Programme (FSP), Environmental<br>Sanitation, population education, mass literacy campaign, political<br>education, among others. These programmes were initiated to<br>promote the life and meet learning needs of the people, community<br>leaders inclusive. This is in line with the views of Alam (2004) who<br>noted that one of the goals of Dakar Education for All (EFA)<br>framework of action was ensuring equitable access to education to<br>meet the learning needs of all.<br>Despite the efforts of the government in initiating community<br>education programmes in the country, the results of the interview<br>and observations made by the researcher show that community<br>based organizations leaders in Anambra state have little or no idea<br>of community education programmes to improve their lots. It is not<br>clear if these community education programmes have been<br>contributory in improving their expected roles. This is because,<br>they have not been able to fill their position properly and hence, do<br>not perform as desired in their area of jurisdictions. This is<br>6<br>evidenced from their poor leadership and accountability, disputes,<br>ignorance of political rights, poor attitude to environmental<br>sanitation, among others. For example, in Anambra State,<br>community leaders shy away from political activities because of<br>the activities of rigging, thuggery, and assassination that militate<br>against their political rights and duties. This agrees with the views<br>of Igbafe and Offiong (2007) that political assassination and other<br>vices have become evils that work the streets of Nigeria not only<br>unmolested, but aided and abated. This, they noted, is due to<br>ineffectiveness and inefficiency of national security outfits,<br>particularly the police that have failed to live up to its duties by<br>apprehending the culprits and their collaborators.<br>Again, environmental sanitation exercise observed every last<br>Saturday of the month now records very few community members’<br>participation due to lack of mobilization from the leaders. This is<br>in line with Ejikeme (2012) who opined that until recently when<br>Anambra State Waste Management Agency (ASWAMA), which<br>derived from the defunct Anambra State Environmental Protection<br>Agency (ANSEPA) was formed, the issue of waste management in<br>Anambra State was a big challenge. The peoples’ attitude to<br>environmental sanitation was very poor. Indiscriminate dumping<br>of refuse was rule rather than exception. The state capital, Awka,<br>was the most vulnerable in this undisciplined life style. Bins<br>overflowed with dirt as flood channels were willfully blocked by<br>privileged few in the society for purpose of reclaiming the land. For<br>example, Iyiagu flood channel was blocked and built upon<br>regardless of the danger it posed to life and properties.<br>7<br>In the same area, the leaders rather struggle for monthly<br>allowance from the state government for community development<br>activities including community education programmes and shy<br>away from their expected roles of helping the community members<br>to develop capacity to deal with their own problems through<br>collective actions, enhanced self-chosen changes and development<br>by community members. This includes developing people’s<br>capacity to learn the skills of democracy that will help move the<br>community to the most desirable levels of conditions. This agrees<br>with the views of Anyanwu (2002) who said that:<br>Community leaders are more interested in power<br>sharing and the creation of positions than in the<br>solution of community problems. Hence, with<br>the lack of intelligent and imaginative of local<br>leadership, the administration of a disorganized<br>community can be frustrated by low morale,<br>apathy, and outright neglect.<br>Morestill, some of the leaders divert community funds into their<br>pocket due to their self aggrandizement. This is in line with Abiona<br>(2009) who noted that the limited funds contributed by members<br>of the communities may be embezzled by community leaders and<br>other. This brings mistrust and kills the interest of the community<br>members who are willing to participate in community<br>development. The author further noted that the political class<br>makes the matter worse by displaying influence after embezzling<br>public funds.<br>The non-performance of these community leaders of their<br>expected roles could be attributed to some gaps that need to be<br>filled through community education programmes. The gap will be<br>considered as the educational needs of these community based<br>8<br>organizations leaders. Knowles (1970) described educational need<br>as something that a person has to learn for his own good, for the<br>good of an organization, or for the good of the society. It can be<br>regarded as the gap that exists between a person’s present level of<br>competencies and a higher level which is required for effective<br>performance as defined by the individuals, his organization or his<br>society. As a problem-centered activity, community education<br>becomes a tool that will build the capacity of community leaders to<br>satisfy the imbalance or lack of adjustment between the present<br>condition in the life of the community and a new set of condition<br>that will be more desirable.<br>In identifying those gaps, they could be basic education<br>needs, social education needs, political education needs, economic<br>education needs, and cultural education needs. These are<br>important because, they will equip the individuals, including the<br>community leaders with the desired knowledge and skills that will<br>make them function effectively in their communities. Conceptually,<br>basic education refers to all those programmes with fundamental<br>education, as well as those programmes with alternative<br>curricular, including areas such as basic health, nutrition, family<br>planning, literacy, agriculture, and other vocational skills (Lynette<br>&amp; Babara, 2010). The community leaders need basic education<br>because it is very important for human living. Acquisition of basic<br>education will help community leaders have a focus on other areas<br>of needs in the community. It is only when they achieve their basic<br>education needs that other sets of needs come up in the hierarchy<br>of needs. In addition to basic education, another education need<br>that could be important to community leaders is social education.<br>9<br>Social education can be seen as education for sociality, education<br>through social life, education as learning in society, and education<br>for social relationships (Smith, 2002). Thus, it is the education<br>that equips community leaders with knowledge and skills of<br>establishing human relationship, love, peace and harmony,<br>communication, improved family life, among others. Knowledge of<br>social education will make community leaders gain access to full<br>emotional, social, and intellectual development in relations to self,<br>social institutions, and social issues.<br>Moreso, another education need that could be very important<br>to community leaders to function effectively in their communities<br>is political education. Political education is an activity aimed at<br>achieving the largest numbers of citizens, who understand political<br>process, independently and critically shape their own opinions and<br>are prepared for public activity (European Youth for Media<br>Network Association, 2012). Political education will help to raise<br>the civic consciousness and increasing participation of community<br>leaders in the community affairs and the mainstream political<br>process. Acquisition of political education will make them exercise<br>their franchise, know state ideology, strengthen their leadership<br>structure, and have sound criticisms on state issues. In the same<br>vein, such other need could be economic education. Economic<br>education is the education provided to assist a rational man in<br>organizing his different thoughts whenever he is faced with day-today<br>economic issues and problems (Ibukunolu, 2010). Thus,<br>economic education is the education that prepares one to become<br>productive member of the workforce, prudent saver, investor, and<br>wise decision maker on his available resources. There is, therefore,<br>10<br>the need for community based organizations leaders to acquire<br>economic education to enable them identify their available<br>resources in the community and make wise decision on the usage<br>and reservation for the rainy days. It will equally equip them with<br>knowledge and skills of dealing with their day-to-day economic<br>issues and problems as they arise in their own areas of authority.<br>Finally, one other education need that could be vital for the<br>performance of community based organization leaders in their<br>communities is cultural education. Cultural education refers to<br>education that enables the transmission of peoples’ cultural<br>heritage from one generation to another. It equips individuals with<br>a wide variety of high quality cultural experiences that make them<br>to function effectively in their communities. There is the need for<br>community leaders to have in their finger tips, the values, norms,<br>and traditions of their communities through cultural education.<br>This will enable them to transmit the knowledge to new generation<br>and for promotion of cultural development.<br>Community has been defined as a group of people living in a<br>geographical area and are bound with common interest. This<br>implies that in every community, the perception of the people is<br>very important since there are various categories of people in the<br>community, for example, married and single, educated and noneducated.<br>It is very vital that the opinions of these categories of<br>people should be collected to determine how related or diversed<br>these opinions are in this study. Also community development is<br>all about improving the well being of people in both rural and<br>urban communities. This therefore, implies that, the importance of<br>rural and urban aspects of the communities necessitates that the<br>11<br>opinions from both rural a urban leaders are necessary in this<br>study.<br>Based on the foregoing, that the community based<br>organization leaders do not function effectively as required, it is<br>the intention of the researcher to identify the needs of the<br>community based organizations leaders to enable them function<br>effectively in their communities.<br>Statement of the Problem<br>The non-performance of the community based organizations<br>leaders has led to slow pace at which different communities in<br>Anambra State are developing. The decline in their roles is more<br>pervasive in rural communities than their urban counterparts.<br>This can be evidenced by the high rate of illiteracy, poor<br>leadership, embezzlement of public funds, disputes, and ignorance<br>of community education programmes such as health, economic,<br>political and environmental programmes. The truth remains that<br>inspite of the numerous community education programmes that<br>have been introduced by the government, the rural dwellers,<br>including community leaders have not availed themselves of these<br>educational opportunities to improve their lots. Could it be that<br>the community education programmes did not receive adequate<br>publicity or could it be that there were some educational<br>deficiencies that deprived them of access to information about<br>community education programmes?<br>Moreover, the irony is that, it is not even certain that<br>community leaders know their basic education needs, social<br>education needs, political education needs, economic education<br>12<br>needs, and cultural education needs. In fact, it is not clear if at all<br>any community education programmes targeted at the rural<br>populace have been contributory in improving the roles of<br>community leaders in the area despite the rapid increase in their<br>expected roles.<br>Therefore, since the community based organizations leaders<br>do not perform their roles as expected in their areas of jurisdiction,<br>there is need to identify their community education needs to<br>enable them develop their leadership potentials and become more<br>effective in their areas of authority. It is, therefore, the problem of<br>this study to identify the community education needs of the<br>community based organizations leaders.<br>Purpose of the Study<br>The main purpose of this study was to ascertain the<br>community education needs of community based organizations<br>leaders in Anambra State. Specifically, the study sought to find<br>out:<br>1. The extent to which community based organizations leaders<br>need basic education.<br>2. The extent to which community based organizations leaders<br>need social education.<br>3. The extent to which community based organizations leaders<br>need political education.<br>4. The extent to which community based organizations leaders<br>need economic education.<br>5. The extent to which community based organizations leaders<br>need cultural education.<br>13<br>Significance of the Study<br>The findings of this study will be of great importance not only<br>to the community leaders who are the pillars in community,<br>particularly in this dynamic world of 21st century but also to adult<br>educators and community development officers, policy makers and<br>state government.<br>Firstly, the implementation of the findings will enable<br>community leaders to identify the needs and problems of the<br>community and means of satisfying them. It is only when they<br>know what their needs are that they know how to tackle them. The<br>findings will equally give the leaders clue on how to influence and<br>direct the people in order to achieve communal goals be it social,<br>political, economic, and otherwise.<br>Secondly, the findings of the study will serve as a guide for<br>adult educators and community development officers on what<br>programmes to be developed for community leaders. It will give<br>them insight on the desired roles of the leaders and how to develop<br>programme to reflect such roles that will bring about positive<br>changes in the community.<br>Thirdly, the findings of the study will as well serve as a guide<br>for policy makers in formulating policies that will guide the<br>selection of leaders in different communities. The findings will also<br>give the policy makers idea on how to reflect the expected roles of<br>community leaders in their policies. This is to streamline the<br>leadership pattern of the leaders in different communities.<br>14<br>Finally, the findings and recommendations of the study will<br>serve as a reference point through which the state and local<br>governments can address some developmental programme issues<br>of rural communities. That is, it will serve as a date bank that can<br>be used as guide by the government in dealing with developmental<br>issues.<br>Research Questions<br>The following research questions guided the study.<br>1. To what extent do community based organizations leaders<br>need basic education?<br>2. To what extent do community based organizations leaders<br>need social education?<br>3. To what extent do community based organizations leaders<br>need political education?<br>4. To what extent do community based organizations leaders<br>need economic education?<br>5. To what extent do community based organizations leaders<br>need cultural education?<br>Hypotheses<br>The following null hypotheses were formulated for the study<br>and tested at P &lt; 0.05 level of significance.<br>H01: There is no significant difference between the mean scores of<br>the literate and non-literate community based organizations<br>leaders on the basic education needs.<br>15<br>H02: There is no significant difference between the mean scores of<br>the married and single community based organizations<br>leaders on the social education needs.<br>H03: There is no significant difference between the mean scores of<br>urban based and rural based community based organizations<br>leaders on the political education needs.<br>Scope of the Study<br>The scope of the study was limited to determine the<br>community education needs of community based organizations<br>leaders in Anambra State. These community education needs<br>include: basic education needs, social education needs, political<br>education needs, economic education needs, and cultural<br>education needs. The study was also limited to those community<br>based organizations set up by the community.<br>16 <br></p>