Influence of household economic factors on gender participation in basic adult literacy development programme in Nakuru West sub-County, Nakuru County, Kenya

The present study sought to examine the influence of household economic factors on gender participation in basic adult literacy development programme (BALDP) in Nakuru West Sub-County, Kenya. The study employed the descriptive research design and targeted the population of 1,564 individuals consisting of 17 adult education instructors and 1,547 learners that were involved in BALDP in Nakuru West. The study sample was 16 instructors and 140 adult learners who were selected using the clustered random sampling technique. Semi-structured question naires were used to collect data from the learners while interview guides were used to gather data from instructors. Quantitative data wasanalysed using percentages and the chi-square test while qualitative data was analysed using the thematic technique. Results showed that women had greater participation in BALDP in Nakuru West than men in terms of enrolment, class attendance, class involvement, and course completion. The low participation of men in BALDP was influenced significantly by the men’s occupation (p = .001) that limited the amount of time available for learning. The study recommends that the Directorate of Adult Education in Nakuru West and instructors should make classes more flexible and accommodative to the work schedules of men including offering evening and weekend classes.