Empowering Adult Learners for a Post Subsidy Economy: The Imperative of Multi-Skill Acquisition for Learners’ Self Reliance in Abia State.

Abstract

The study examined empowering adult learners for a post subsidy economy: The imperative of multi-skill acquisition for learners ‘self-reliance in Abia State. Two research questions guided the study and the study adopted descriptive survey research design and was conducted in Abia State. The population was 4352 consisting of 3901 adult learners and 451 facilitators. A sample size of 366 respondent from all the Local governments in Abia State was used for the study. Taro Yamen formula was used for the determination of sample size while two staged sampling technique was employed to select the respondents for the study. The instrument for data collection was “Empowering Adult Learners for a Post Subsidy Economy Questionnaire” (EALPSEQ) structured by the researcher. The instrument was validated by 3 expert while the reliability of the instrument was established using Crombach Alpha (.702). The research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation. The result of the analysis revealed that increase in household expenses among other factors are the effects of petroleum subsidy removal on the economic and daily lives of adult learners in Abia State. The study further revealed that increase in employment opportunities among others are the benefits of multi-skill acquisition as a strategy for enhancing sustainable development in Abia State. The researcher recommended among other that Government and educational stakeholder should create programmes, interventions, seminars, and workshops to enlighten the people especially adult learners on the need for the removal of fuel subsidies and actions needed to be taken to cushion the effects of fuel subsidies on the people.