Beyond Access: Reflections on Adult Learning and Women’s Empowerment in Africa

Download the presentations here:

• Le rôle de l'éducation des adultes dans l'autonomisation socio-économique des femmes au Mali - Mme Sylla Fatoumata Hama CISSE, Directrice Nationale de l’Éducation non formelle et des langues Nationales
• The role of ALE in supporting mature women working in Early Childhood Development - Dr Kaylianne Aploon-Zokufa (Phd), University of the Western Cape, Faculty of Education, Institute for Post School Studies

Adult Learning and Education (ALE) continues to play an important role in the lives of women across Africa, especially those who have been excluded from formal education, stable employment, and recognised qualifications. At a recent MOJA webinar on The Role of ALE in Women’s Empowerment, this role was explored through two different but connected perspectives: one focused on women’s socio-economic empowerment through literacy, skills training and income generation, and the other on the learning journeys of mature women working in Early Childhood Development (ECD). Together, these presentations offered an important reminder that ALE is not only about education. It is also about dignity, confidence, livelihood, recognition and opportunity.

The webinar built on two contributions already published in the MOJA Journal, but the discussion helped move the conversation further. The presentations showed that ALE can support women to strengthen their knowledge and practical skills, improve their confidence, support their households, and participate more actively in their communities. At the same time, the discussion made clear that access to learning alone is not enough. Women’s empowerment through ALE becomes more meaningful when learning is connected to real economic opportunities and when women can progress beyond basic participation into recognised and valued pathways.

One of the strongest reflections from the webinar was that ALE has the greatest impact when it is closely linked to women’s daily realities. In different ways, both presentations showed that women benefit most when learning is not abstract or disconnected from life, but directly related to how they live, work, care, earn and contribute. Literacy, practical training, community learning, workplace learning and non-formal education all become more powerful when they help women improve their livelihoods and strengthen their ability to act in the world around them.

This was echoed in the wider discussion. Participants reflected on the importance of linking adult learning to practical skills, professional development, small enterprise, income-generating activities and local realities. Contributions from different countries suggested that women’s empowerment is strongest when ALE is designed in an integrated way — where literacy, skills development, confidence-building and economic participation support one another. This is an important lesson because too often, women’s education is treated as separate from women’s economic and social realities. The webinar reminded us that the two cannot be separated. When women learn in ways that strengthen both their capabilities and their livelihoods, the effects often reach beyond the individual to the household and the community.

At the same time, the webinar also raised an equally important point: participation is not the same as empowerment. Women may enter learning spaces, complete programmes, gain practical skills, and build confidence, but remain blocked from further advancement. This was one of the most important themes that emerged from the discussion. While ALE often creates entry points for women who were previously excluded, the real question is what happens after that first access point. Do women have opportunities to move forward? Can they use what they have learned to gain recognition, better work, further study, or stronger social and economic standing?

This matters because many women already possess valuable knowledge, experience and practical competence long before they enter formal learning spaces. They have learned through work, care, volunteering, community leadership and survival itself. ALE can help make that learning visible and strengthen it. But if institutions and systems do not recognise that knowledge, then women’s learning remains undervalued. The webinar therefore pointed to an important challenge for ALE across the continent: how to ensure that women’s learning leads not only to participation, but also to progression and recognition.

Another strong reflection from the discussion was that women’s empowerment is rarely an individual journey. Learning often happens through relationships, groups, centres, communities of practice and collective support. Women build confidence not only by attending programmes, but also by learning with and from others, sharing knowledge, solving problems together and encouraging one another. This social dimension of ALE is easy to overlook, yet it is often one of the most important parts of empowerment. It is through these collective spaces that women begin to see themselves differently, test new roles, and imagine new possibilities for their futures.

The webinar also surfaced a more difficult but necessary reflection: ALE can be transformative, but it does not operate in a vacuum. Women continue to face structural barriers that limit what empowerment can become. Family care responsibilities, poverty, weak employment conditions, limited progression pathways, inflexible learning opportunities and social expectations all shape women’s ability to benefit fully from education. In this sense, ALE can open doors, but women still need systems that allow them to walk through those doors and keep moving. This means that if ALE is to contribute meaningfully to women’s empowerment, it must be supported by broader efforts that value women’s time, labour, knowledge and aspirations.

What emerged most clearly from the webinar was that women’s empowerment through ALE should not be understood too narrowly. It is not only about learning to read and write, nor only about completing a course, nor only about earning an income. It is about a wider process in which women gain the confidence, knowledge, skills, recognition and opportunity to shape their own lives more fully. Sometimes this begins with literacy. Sometimes it begins with workplace learning, vocational training, savings groups, caregiving experience or community-based education. But in all cases, the deeper goal is the same: to expand women’s room to move, decide, contribute and progress.

In conclusion, the webinar therefore offered more than a celebration of successful programmes. It opened an important conversation about what meaningful empowerment really requires. The discussion showed that ALE matters most when it is connected to women’s lived realities, linked to livelihood and social participation, and supported by pathways for growth and recognition. For practitioners, policymakers and institutions, this is a valuable reminder. If ALE is to fulfil its promise, it must do more than provide access. It must help women move from learning to agency, and from participation to possibility.