Federal Govt Restates Commitment To Addressing Illiteracy

The federal government has restated its commitment to address illiteracy as Nigeria joins the rest of the world in commemorating the 2023 International Literacy Day.

Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, disclosed this during a news conference in Abuja yesterday to mark the day.

The theme for the 2023 commemoration is tagged: “Promoting literacy for a world in transition: Building the foundation for sustainable and peaceful societies.”

The minister said it was essential to effectively explore the patterns of transformation and adjustment that had characterised education globally as a result of its ever-increasing scope and paradigm.

“Specifically, it awakens our consciousness to the need to continually make required adjustments in our approach to literacy delivery with a view to meeting the current global trends.

“The ministry would continue to leverage on the existing progress and transformation in the development of literacy while setting the stage for lifelong learning of the Nigerian adults and youths.

“We would continue to rethink the fundamental importance of functional literacy as a necessary panacea that will help build resilience and ensure quality, equitable and inclusive education for all,” he said.

Mamman added that eliminating illiteracy from Nigeria is a top priority of the Tinubu-led administration, adding that the ministry would work hard to achieve this.

“We have a new government in place. This government is determined to do things differently to make Nigeria achieve what it has not achieved since independence.

“The matter of illiteracy is one of the top priority of the president which we put forward at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting. The President does not want a single Nigerian to remain illiterate .

“Illiteracy is a scourge, a disease and we are not going to allow it to continue. We have the directives of the president and our own personal resolve.

“In days and weeks ahead, we will be engaging the public, we have policies on ground but what has been the problem is the delivery of those policies. We will not allow any obstacles in our ways from achieving this goals,” he said.

National Programme Officer and Literacy, UNESCO Regional Office, Abuja, Dr. Stephen Onyekwelu,  said UNESCO had supported Nigeria in developing the Ministerial Strategy Plan to address illiteracy.

Onyekwelu said it had also supported the country through the spotlight initiative where over 200,000 women and girls have acquired the basic skills of reading and writing and some mainstreamed back to school, while some were provided with skills acquisition.