Challenges of the implementation of Integrated Functional Adult Education (IFAE) in Ethiopia - A case of Oromiya National Regional State

Oct 15, 2026

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The study investigates challenges in implementing Integrated Functional Adult Education (IFAE) in the Oromiya National Regional State. A qualitative design with limited quantitative input was used, collecting data through interviews, literacy classroom observations, and focus group discussions from education office participants, district leaders, experts, facilitators, and adult learners. Purposive sampling guided participant selection, and qualitative processing involved editing, classification, and thematic analysis. Findings show implementation is hindered by limited adult access, weak structure, and insufficient coordination and commitment, with curriculum delivery deviating from learner textbooks and lacking agriculture and health extension facilitation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Background and policy fragmentation

Factors behind unsuccessful implementation

Research gap and study focus

IFAE delivery mode and outcomes

African Educational Research Journal Vol. 7(3), pp. 103-117, August 2019 DOI: 10. 30918/AERJ.73.19.022 ISSN: 2354-2160 Full Length Research Paper Challenges of the implementation of Integrated Functional Adult Education (IFAE) in Ethiopia: A case of Oromiya National Regional State Tolera Negassa College of Education and Behavioral Science, Arsi University, Ethiopia. Accepted 24 July, 2019 | ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the challenges of the implementation of Integrated Functional Adult Education (IFAE) in the Oromiya National Regional State. This study employed a qualitative study and few quantitative data type. The qualitative data was collected from participants of regional education office, district education office heads, experts at different education offices, facilitators of the adult literacy program and adult literacy learners through the interview, literacy classroom observation and FGD methods. The study used a purposive sampling method to include participant. After collecting the data, qualitative data processing was made (editing, classification, and thematic formation) . The interpretation is a narrative analysis of relevant incident of the respondents’ responses. The results reveal that the program implementation is hampered by access to adults learning the program, lack of organized structure, coordination, and commitment to improving the IFAE program . The literacy classroom observation results reveal that some of the contents like counting and adding numbers are more liked by participants. On the other hand, writing names, constructing words and sentences found to be a challenge for the learners. The curriculum is not implemented as it was stipulated in the textbook of the learners, only literacy facilitators in the form of intergenerational learning modality run the program, without the involvement of the agriculture and health extension facilitators. The study result shows that the current model, used to implement IFAE, could not bring a change as the right way to escape from illiteracy problem. In the region, despite the growth of formal education, adult education has been impeded and the program handling system becomes at the verge of dying. Hence, the government has to restructure the fragmented system of the program that could minimize the gap between the policy implementers and the end users.
Keywords: Literacy, functional adult education, non-formal education, multi-sectoral model. | | --- | | E-mail: [toleranegassad@gmail.com](toleranegassad@gmail.com). | INTRODUCTION The practical implementation of adult education assumes that administrators at various levels have to interpret the expectations of policymakers by generating rules and regulations that can support the practices. Apart from the bureaucratic functions at different levels, teachers/facilitators eventually have to translate the rules and regulation into actual classroom practice on a day-today basis (McGinn and Street, 1982) . In this regards, adult learning policy is complex, since it makes important contributions to many other policies (e.g. economy, health, family, etc. ) . The responsibility for adult learning policy is often divided across several ministries and agencies ([e.g. education](e.g. education), agriculture, health, business, etc. ) and several levels of the policy are implemented with local institutions such as facilitators, schools, local administrators, and districts education offices, region, and nation. European Commission (2015) noted that shared responsibility among stakeholder often results in a situation where the adult learning policy is fragmented and its efficiency suffers from insufficient coordination. Moreover, the forces such as the management styles, organizational structure, legitimate authority structures within a given system, and the micro-political processes provide the milieu for policy re-contextualization (Welsh and McGinn, 1999) . A study conduct

FAQs

What study method was used to examine IFAE implementation in Oromiya?

The study used a qualitative approach with limited quantitative data. Data were gathered through interviews, literacy classroom observation, and focus group discussions.

What key challenges were identified in the implementation of IFAE?

Implementation was hindered by difficulty accessing adults who learn the program, lack of an organized structure, and insufficient coordination and commitment to improving IFAE.

How did the classroom practice and facilitator involvement affect learning outcomes?

The curriculum was not implemented as stipulated in learners’ textbooks. Only literacy facilitators delivered the program through intergenerational learning, without involvement of agriculture and health extension facilitators.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Stanford