Illiteracy rate in Nigeria still alarming —FG

THE Federal Government has expressed worry that the nation’s development aspirations might be in jeopardy if the high level of illiteracy rate in the country is left unchecked.

Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, who spoke at the 2017 Nigeria’s Annual Education Conference, entitled ‘Achieving Inclusive Education through Innovative Strategies’, noted that the over 65 per cent illiterate population of the country was a source of concern to the government.

The event was organised by the British Council in Nigeria in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education.

Represented at the event by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mr Sunny Echono, Adamu said Nigeria must rededicate itself to the war against illiteracy by focusing intensely on girls and women.

“More worrisome is that females account for nearly 60 per cent of the country’s illiterate population. The most expedient approach is through selective, intensive and nationwide ongoing campaign against illiteracy, targeting states and groups that have the highest levels of illiteracy, with girls and women as the main target,” he said.

The minister said that if a minimum of 10 literacy centres could be established in each of the 9,572 wards with each centre enrolling a maximum of 30 learners in two sessions per annum, 5.7 million adults would be made literate at the end of each year under the national literacy campaign; thus, about 23 million people would be literate.

He noted that the high population of out-of-school children was the strongest evidence yet that Nigeria had failed to achieve one of the Education for All (EFA) goals and Millennium Development Goal of universalising access to primary education for all school-age children.

He argued that any realistic attempt to provide educational opportunities to Nigeria’s 10.5 million out-of-school children must review existing practices in order to determine where the country is and the obstacles that are on the way.

Similarly, the British High Commissioner, Paul Arkwright, said UKaid is working to enforce sustainable development of teachers and ensure they are well educated.

He said UKaid will be supporting 100,000 children in Yobe and Borno, and that the United Kingdom would be supporting 800,000 girls across the country in the state through UKaid.