ABSTRACT
The study investigated the assessment of community development education programmes for rural poverty alleviation in Akoko-Edo local government area of Edo State. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, three (3) research questions and one(1) hypothesis were formulated to guide the study.
A survey research design was adopted for the study. A total of 72 participants drawn through stratified and simple random sampling technique constituted the sample for the study. One instrument was used for the study namely: a self-structured questionnaire titled: Assessment Of Community Development Education Programmes Questionnaire (ACDEPQ). The experts judgment approach was adopted in the validity of the questionnaire and it reliability was carried out using the internal consistency reliability whereby the instrument were administered to 20 participants who were not part of the final study and a value co-efficient of 0.70 was obtained to determine the reliability of the instrument. The researcher personally admister the data and also retrieved the data. The data collected were analysed using the descriptive and inferential statistics. The descriptive statistics involved frequency count, simple percentages and mean score analysis, while the inferential statistics include Pearsons r. To test hypothesis, the researcher adopted the Pearson’s r at a 0.05 level of significance
It was found in the study that there is significant relationship between community development education programmes and rural poverty alleviation programmes and also that these programmes are faced with challenges which hinders the successful implementation of the programmes. The study concluded that community development education programmes are important factors to be considered for rural poverty alleviation and that the government should ensure this programme thrive in rural areas because it plays a major role in increasing the standard of living of rural dwellers, results in economic prosperity and reduce the rate of poverty and suffering in our nation. The study proffered a number of recommendations which includes the fact that community development education programmes be made more available in rural areas because they empower citizens with knowledge and skills and resources needed to drive positive change, foster growth, and address rural challenges, ultimately leading to more resilient, sustainable, and thriving communities and the challenges confronting community development education programmes should be tackled with innovative solutions, policy support, finance, and a commitment to ensure that these programmes remain effective, responsive, and sustainable in addressing the evolving needs of diverse communities.
