Documentation and Knowledge Management in Adult Education Practice in Nigeria

This study examines documentation and knowledge management practices in adult education organisations in Nigeria, assessing the quality of programme records, knowledge sharing systems, and institutional memory management. Effective documentation and knowledge management are foundational requirements for organisational learning, programme improvement, and evidence-based advocacy in adult education. Nigerian adult education organisations, both public and non-governmental, are widely reported to have weak documentation cultures, resulting in the loss of valuable programme lessons and limited institutional learning over time. This study uses a mixed-method design, conducting a survey of 65 programme managers and documentation officers in adult education organisations in Abuja, Lagos, Enugu, and Kano alongside document audits of programme records in 12 selected organisations. Documentation quality is assessed across dimensions of completeness, accessibility, systematisation, and utilisation. Knowledge management system quality is evaluated using a framework covering knowledge capture, storage, sharing, and application. Findings reveal that most organisations maintain incomplete learner records and produce programme reports primarily for donor compliance rather than organisational learning purposes. Knowledge sharing across organisations is minimal, with no national platform for adult education practitioner experience exchange. High staff turnover compounds institutional memory loss. The study concludes that knowledge management weakness in Nigerian adult education organisations impedes programme quality improvement and evidence-based policy advocacy. It recommends the establishment of a national adult education knowledge management platform hosted by UBEC to facilitate document sharing, lesson learning, and cross-organisation knowledge exchange.

Keywords: knowledge management, documentation, adult education, Nigeria, organisational learning.