International Literacy day: Akerele Decries Nigeria’s Staggering Illiteracy Figures
THE Nigerian government and other educational stakeholders have been urged to tackle the illiteracy gap in the country by focusing on investment budgeting and securing schools to optimize quality and inclusive education across the country.
The recommendation was made by Policy House International, a transparency and accountability advocacy group, in a statement issued by its Country Rep, Mr. Taiwo Akerele, to mark the 2021 edition of the International Literacy Day.
Mr. Akerele described as disturbing data that showed that over 10.5 million Nigeria kids are out of school, and other internal data gathered by Policy House which placed the number of informally educated adults across the country at an estimated figure of 20 million.
He called for a shift in budgeting to focus more on investments rather than spending as that, in his view, will help to address some of the challenges contributing to the education inequality and staggering illiteracy figures noted in the country.
“With an estimated 700 million persons not formally educated accounting for 10% of world population the world is not completely in safe hands,” the statement said.
“In Nigeria and other parts of Africa the situation is worse. The UNICEF in 2019 estimated that there are over 10.5 million kids out of school accounting for 5% of our population, policy house estimates (conservatively) another 20m informally educated adults across the country accounting for another 10% of our population this is not encouraging for Africa’s largest economy.”
“Following this therefore, we believe that there is need for a concerted effort by government and all stakeholders to focus more on investment budgeting rather than spending on education. The results between investment and spending are like the difference between night and day.”
“We call on the Nigerian government to accelerate its efforts in providing adequate security for schools especially in Northern Nigeria to halt the ravaging activities of bandits and kidnappers of school children in the region. This year alone over 2,000 school pupils have been kidnapped and some never came back alive. As we mark this day, more schools are been shut down on a daily basis in North western part of Nigeria leading to many pupils staying at home for several months without any hope of resuming soon. This is heart breaking for the future of the country.”
“We believe there is more to do to ensure Nigeria regains its lead in the educational sector across the region by bridging the digital divide and reducing the gap between the educationally disadvantaged and the underserved.”
The group expressed hope that the various initiatives of the government, including the Presidential alternative school program, will achieve desired objectives within a short time.
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