Gender Disparities in Adult Education Enrolment in Katsina State

This study investigated gender disparities in adult education enrolment in Katsina State, North West Nigeria. Despite decades of policy commitment to gender parity in education at all levels, adult education enrolment data in the North West zone consistently reveal a persistent and wide gender gap that disadvantages women. The study adopted a descriptive survey design involving 190 participants comprising adult education programme enrollees, non-enrollees, facilitators, and local government education officers from three local government areas in Katsina State. Questionnaires, structured interviews, and administrative enrolment records were utilised for data collection. Findings confirmed that female enrolment in adult education programmes was considerably lower than male enrolment, a disparity driven by multiple reinforcing factors including early marriage, restrictive cultural norms around women's mobility, household responsibilities, and male guardian opposition to wives' and daughters' education. Female facilitators were found to significantly improve female enrolment rates in communities where they were deployed, suggesting that representation matters at the programme delivery level. Communities with strong women champion networks and active female community leaders demonstrated comparatively reduced gender gaps in adult education enrolment. Recommendations include deploying female facilitators as the default staffing model for women's literacy classes in Katsina, launching sustained community dialogue campaigns targeting husbands and family heads, and designing flexible programme models incorporating home-based learning components for women with severe mobility restrictions. Keywords: gender disparity, adult education, enrolment, Katsina State, female participation.