This study identified and analyzed factors which affect the participation of rural women in nonformal education programs. These factors were linked to the national program for rural women. Document analysis and unstructured interviews of policy personnel were used to describe national policies for educational programs for women, the status of women's participation in those programs, and issues that influence women's education. Participant observation and unstructured interviews were employed to obtain data in the field study of Baan Kha Klang village. Forty-two women in the village, 21 who had participated and 21 who had not participated in nonformal education programs within the past year, were randomly selected as subjects.

This study was a secondary analysis of survey data on participants and nonparticipants in Thai rural education programs. The original data were collected in 1987 by the Office of the National Educational Commission, Office of the Prime Minister, Bangkok Thailand. This study was conducted in order to examine the effect of selected demographic variables on participation and to determine why some rural villagers participate in nonformal educational programs and other villagers do not. The data were collected from a survey of nonformal education in Thai rural areas conducted as part of the evaluation of the Fifth Five-Year Plan. The population consisted of 590 participants in nonformal education programs and 860 nonparticipants. The statistical techniques employed to analyze data were logit analysis, z-test, tables of binomial distribution, and ranking by each of the groups (participants and nonparticipants). The evidence from this study indicates that the average nonformal education participant is an adult between the age of 36 and 50 years, who has completed four or less years of education, and who is married and works in farming (cultivating rice). The findings reveal that participants and nonparticipants in nonformal education programs were significantly different according to their needs for health knowledge, agricultural knowledge, further education, knowledge for living, and vocational knowledge. The reasons associated with participation in nonformal education programs, in this study, were to gain knowledge useful for making a living, for personal interest, to interact with instructors and students, or to make new friends. In this study, the reasons that villagers did not participate in the program were because they lacked time and transportation. While majority of the participants responded that they were satisfied with the nonformal educational courses, four subgroups, adults from age 21 to 35 years, single adults, adults who completed P.5 (grade 5) and above, and farmers, indicated dissatisfaction.