Authors: Omar Keita and Ya-Hui Lee
National Chung Cheng University

Edition: Volume 62, Number 1, April 2022

Introduction: This study explored adult learners’ experiences of participating in a second-chance education pilot program in The Gambia. The study examined learners’ motivation for enrolling in the program, barriers they faced, and their benefits from attending the program. The participants consist of 13 learners from a second chance education centre in the Lower River Region of The Gambia. Six of the participants were male, and seven were female within 19 to 31 years. The data were collected using semi-structured interviews. The study revealed that the primary motivations for participants enrolling in the program are to complete education and undertake further education, be employable, and acquire knowledge and skills. The study also indicated that learners faced barriers that hindered their full participation in the program. These barriers are institutional and situational. The institutional barriers include uncomfortable teaching and learning environment; inadequate teaching and learning materials. The situational barriers include domestic chores, personal engagement, access to food, lateness, transportation, and distance from the learning centre. Finally, the study showed that the participants benefit from the program in improved knowledge and skills, building confidence and connecting socially, taking care of personal issues, and helping others. In other words, the program empowered and transformed learners
from improving themselves to helping others.

Keywords: adult education, transformative learning, second chance education

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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 62:1. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.