Commission Wants FG To Prioritise Adult Education
Written By Unknown on Saturday, 13 September 2014 | 16:17
The National Commission for Mass Literacy on Monday urged the Federal Government to prioritise adult education in order to provide basic education to millions of illiterate adult Nigerians.
The commission’s Governing Board Chairman, Mrs. Esther Uduehi, made the call at the briefing to mark the International Literacy Day celebration in Abuja, the News Agency of Nigeria reported on Monday.
Uduehi said that adult education, aside the formal school system, would tackle the issue of mass illiteracy in the country.
She said that 63 million Nigerians were illiterate, attributing the cause to the lack of political will and inconsistent policy implementation.
“Sixty three million Nigerians are illiterate; this situation is largely due to low political will to address the issue.
“This is reflected in poor funding and inconsistent policy implementation, especially at the state and local government levels.’’
The chairman identified factors fuelling illiteracy to include poverty, hunger, disease, maternal death, child mortality and environmental degradation.
According to Uduehi, access to literacy and education is a basic right while the lack of literacy skills emanates from little attention paid to providing education for adults who have never been to school.
She called for adequate funding of the commission to enable it to discharge its functions effectively to the teeming population of illiterate adults in the country.
Also speaking, the UNESCO Director-General, Mrs. Irina Bokova, said literacy helps to reduce poverty and enables people find jobs and boost their livelihoods.
Bokova, represented by the UNESCO Regional Director, Prof. Hassana Aalidu, said that 781 million adults worldwide could not read, write or count, adding that most of them were women.
“More than 250 million children are unable to read a single sentence, even though half of them have spent four years in school.
“What kind of societies do we expect to build with an illiterate youth?
“We want a world where everyone can participate in the destiny of their societies, gain access to knowledge and enrich it in turn,’’ she said.
The UNESCO DG explained that to ensure success in mass literacy, the traditional approach of just learning how to read and write should be changed.
She added that literacy programmes should encompass broader skills with regards to consumption and sustainable lifestyles, conservation of biodiversity, poverty reduction, disaster risk reduction and civic participation.
Bokova called for more investment and intense efforts by development partners and UNESCO member states to ensure that literacy was fully recognised as the most powerful accelerator of sustainable development.