Practices and Challenges of Integrated Functional Adult Education Program Implementation: The Case of Digeluna Tijo District, Oromia

The study's objective is to investigate the practices and challenges of implementing an integrated functional adult education program. The study used a mixed-method approach with a convergent design. Data were gathered from IFAE learners, facilitators, district education experts, supervisors, and the program's technical committees. Simple random sampling techniques were used, while comprehensive sampling techniques were used for facilitators. District education experts, supervisors, and technical committees were interviewed using semistructured interviews, while IFAE learners and facilitators were interviewed using questionnaires. The data was analyzed using descriptive statics like frequency, percentage, and mean, as well as a description of the interviewee's opinion. As a result, the findings revealed that the IFAE program's contents are more focused on agricultural education and are also relevant to their daily lives. In addition, appropriate materials and teaching methods were used. The major challenges of the district's IFAE program were a lack of a conducive learning environment; participation and integration of different stakeholders; integration between sectors, overlapping of timetable with learners' own work, insufficient budget allocation, and a lack of facilitators training. To that end, it was suggested that strong cooperation and participation among government and nongovernment organizations, as well as strong integration between sectors, be encouraged. Furthermore, if regional, zonal, and district education offices need to find ways to increase their budget or raise funds to increase facilitator salaries and equip them, different learning materials were recommended.