Worried by reading skill deficiency phenomenon, especially at basic education level in Nigeria, National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), in collaboration with USAID Learn to Read, has developed and integrated the concept of Early Grade Reading (EGR) into teaching and learning process in the school system.
The development has led to a capacity building workshop organized for federal and state colleges of education lecturers in Nigeria for the training on the effective delivery of the new curriculum across the country. Â
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the workshop organised for lecturers drawn from the state and federal colleges of education in the South West, held at the Federal College of Education, Special, Oyo, on Tuesday, the Executive Secretary, National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), Abuja, Professor Paulinus Chijioke Okwelle, noted that the capacity building workshop was put in place for teacher-educators in the country majorly to sharpen their skills on the implementation of the EGR curriculum given the critical role of âreading âin the teaching/learning process.
 While underscoring the need for immediate adoption and implementation of the new EGR curriculum into the basic education school system and Early Childhood education programme, he asserted that Illiteracy in Nigeria is much higher than what it was on the eve of independence in 1960 and not only are our primary school products now are unable to read and write in English, and in our mother tongues, but the generality of our secondary and tertiary institutions cannot also read and write fluently in English or in our mother tongues.Â
He said: “It is the hope and expectation of the NCCE that participants will accord this workshop the importance it deserves bearing in mind that it is only when one is well equipped with the requisite skills, strategies and pedagogies that one can make a meaningful impact on learning outcomes,â.Â
While welcoming the participants into the college, the Provost, Federal College of Education, Special, Oyo, Dr Ademola Salami, described the new curriculum as apt, stressing that the development would go a long way to improve learning outcome and also improve studentsâ academic performance drastically.Â
  He commended the leadership of the NCCE headed by Professor Okwelle for their contributions towards the development of basic education in Nigeria . According to him, the new  curriculum would promote child’s mother tongue and also enhance effective reading skill acquisition.
He noted that a child that is versatile in his mother tongue would read better than others who are not. He said that language experience is required for an effective reading skill attainment process, attributing  poor academic performance to poor reading deficiency of students.Â
âReading is not limited to reading print, it also includes reading drawing, as well as reading Braille. NCCE deserves commendation for its attempt to change the narrative in Nigeria, especially at early stage of education.”
Speaking in the same vein, at the occasion, the acting director, Education Support Services and International Partnership National Commission for Colleges of Education, Abuja, Razaq Adeyemi Badmus, confirmed the relevance of the new curriculum and its urgent implementation because of its tendency to improve the learning outcome of learners/students process of acquiring knowledge.
According to him, the EGR concept is a new one in the education minimum standard and the NCCE felt the need for teacher educators that are going to implement the curriculum to be equipped with the strategies with which to implement the curriculum effectively in their respectful institutions in the country. Â
He noted that for years early grade reading had not been given adequate attention in the curriculum for a child to acquire knowledge, the development of which he said, had negatively affected the learning outcome. Â
One of the participants, Dr. Leigh Rachael from Oyo State College of Education, Lanlate, described the EGR curriculum as a welcome development in the teaching and learning process in Nigeria. According to her, it is an improvement on the existing teaching methodology.
Similarly, the representative of USAID Lean to Read declared that the EGR curriculum was introduced into the school system in 2017 as a pilot course in Sokoto and Bauchi States, designed to teach pupils how to read with help of the child’s mother tongue.Â
According to her, the success story of the curriculum informed the NCCE to adopt it for the whole country.
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