This study sought to establish the status of adult education programme in Yatta Sub-County, Machakos County, Kenya. Despite the campaigns that have been carried out to eradicate illiteracy in addition to the government’s support of the same through the Department of Adult Basic Education in the Ministry of Education in Kenya, the level of literacy in the country is still low standing at 61.5%. The purpose of this study was to establish the status of adult education programme in Yatta Sub-county. The study adopted descriptive research design. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select 11 out of 22 Adult Education Programme (AEP) centres as the sample of the study. A proportional sample of 99 adult learners was selected from the selected AEP centres to act as the respondents of the study.  Additionally, adult education teachers from the selected centres and the education officer were included in the sample as key informants. The study employed interviews for adult learners and questionnaires for the key informants. The data collected was cross-tabulated for qualitative and quantitative analysis based on themes generated from research objectives. The findings indicated that demographic characteristics such as gender, age, academic qualifications and educational level influenced the status of adult education in Yatta Sub-County.  The major reasons for enrollment in AEP in Yatta Sub-County were to gain knowledge in literacy and numeracy skills followed by gaining skills to operate business among others. It was also noted that in Yatta Sub-County, there was an upward trend in KCPE and KCSE completion rates from 2012 to 2015.

Keywords: Status, adult, education, adult education programme,