Photograph — The Guardian Nigeria

The National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education has expressed concern over the country’s high rate of illiteracy, saying over 60 million Nigerians are unable to read or write.

Executive Secretary of the Commission, Abba Haladu, made the disclosure in Abuja last Saturday during a literacy round table discussion held under the title Literacy and Multilingualism: A Bedrock for Sustainable National Development.

According to the commission, Nigeria will not achieve its development aspirations until it checks the high level of illiteracy, given the millions of adults and youths in this category. This is because the growth and development of any nation depend largely on the quantity and quality of all segments of its population.

The secretary noted that with the challenge of out-of-school children in the country, Nigeria is faced with a high illiteracy rate amongst its adults and youth population. Therefore, to win the war against illiteracy, the government should focus intensely on youths and adults.

Backing up Haladu’s claim, a United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) report shows that millions of Nigerian children are out of school, a problem that has posed a threat to the fight against illiteracy in Nigeria.

“Even though primary education is officially free and compulsory, about 10.5 million of the country’s children aged 5-14 years are not in school. Only 61 percent of 6-11 year-olds regularly attend primary school and only 35.6 percent of children aged 36-59 months receive early childhood education.

“In the north of the country, the picture is even bleaker, with a net attendance rate of 53 percent. Getting out-of-school children back into education poses a massive challenge,” the UN report says.

For Nigeria to achieve self -sustained development, all its people, men and women, the youth and the aged; irrespective of gender, age, location and conditions of life should be able to read, write and calculate, Haladu added.

Also speaking at the event, the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, who was represented by the Minister of State, Emeka Nwajiuba called for an overhaul of Nigeria’s education system. “It is imperative to act quickly to change the unsatisfactory education indicators which show a large number of out-of-school children, a high illiteracy level among youth and adults, infrastructural deficit and decay, inadequate access at the basic education and low quality of learning among others.” 

In conclusion, there is a need for the government to invest in both formal and non-formal education in order to ensure that all have access to opportunities that will help to reduce the illiteracy rate in the country.

By Ahmed Iyanda.

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