Literacy Education as a Tool for Empowering Women In Asa Local Government Area Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

The paper examined the issue of literacy as a tool for empowering women
in Asa Local Government area of Kwara State. The paper was premised on
the fact that when women are literate, they will be more active in their
various communities. Their voices will be heard as opposed to their faces
being seen and this will instill in them the confidence to make progress in
their daily living. The study made use of descriptive survey design, with 211
non-literates women randomly selected as sample within the local
government. A 10 item questionnaire was designed to elicit responses on
literacy education and empowerment. The data collected were subjected to
descriptive and inferential statistical test at 0.05 level of significance. The
study discovered that literacy is a tool for fighting poverty, hunger diseases,
and ignorance and when all these are fought, an average woman becomes
empowered to participate actively in issues of development in her home
and community. The study, therefore, recommended that women should be
encouraged to enroll for literacy education programme while, governments
at all levels should make efforts to fund literacy programme.