Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the challenges of the implementation of Integrated
Functional Adult Education (IFAE) in the Gambella town of the People National Regional State.
This study employed a qualitative study and few quantitative data type. The qualitative data was
collected from participants of regional education office, secondary and primary education office
heads, experts at different education offices, facilitators of the adult literacy program and adult
literacy learners through the interview, literacy classroom observation and FGD methods. The
study used a purposive sampling method to include participants. After collecting the data,
qualitative data processing was made (editing, classification, and thematic formation). The
interpretation is a narrative analysis of relevant incident of the respondents’ responses. The
results reveal that the program implementation is hampered by access of adults learning the
program and the lack of organized structure, coordination, and commitment to improving the
IFAE program. The literacy classroom observation results reveal that some of the contents like
counting and adding numbers are more liked by participants. On the other hand, writing names,
constructing words and sentences found to be a challenge for the learners. Hence, the
government has to restructure the fragmented system of the program that could minimize the gap
between the policy implementers and the end users.
