Professional Development Needs of Adult Education Practitioners in Sokoto State

This study assessed the professional development needs of adult education practitioners in Sokoto State, North West Nigeria. The quality and effectiveness of adult education delivery are closely linked to the ongoing professional development of the practitioners responsible for programme planning, facilitation, and management. The study adopted a descriptive survey design involving 85 adult education practitioners including facilitators, supervisors, and programme coordinators from four local government areas. A professional development needs assessment tool, structured interviews, and documentary review of existing training records formed the data collection framework. Findings revealed substantial gaps in practitioners' competencies across key domains including adult learning facilitation, curriculum adaptation, learner needs assessment, programme data management, and community engagement techniques. Facilitators expressed strong preference for hands-on workshop-based training over theoretical coursework, and for training delivered in local languages or through bilingual instruction. Access to professional development was highly unequal, with practitioners in urban local government areas receiving significantly more training opportunities than their rural counterparts. Financial constraints, distance, and programme delivery responsibilities were the most commonly cited barriers to professional development attendance. Recommendations include establishing a state adult education practitioners' professional development strategy, creating a network of local training hubs to reduce geographic access barriers, developing a modular in-service training curriculum aligned to identified competency gaps, and establishing a professional certification pathway for adult education practitioners in Sokoto State. Keywords: professional development, adult education practitioners, competency gaps, Sokoto State, in-service training.