NMEC and fight against illiteracy

The commission is meant to facilitate the achievements of Education for All (EFA) of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 and the Vision 2020. In its quest to achieve these objectives, the commission has introduced various non-formal and continuing education programmes with a view to taking care of disadvantaged, marginalised and hard-to-reach children, youth and […]

The commission is meant to facilitate the achievements of Education for All (EFA) of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 and the Vision 2020. In its quest to achieve these objectives, the commission has introduced various non-formal and continuing education programmes with a view to taking care of disadvantaged, marginalised and hard-to-reach children, youth and adults.
Literacy centres were established in the six geopolitical zones and in the 36 states as well as across the 774 local government areas to offer literacy skills to illiterate adults and out-of-school youths respectively.
The type of education being offered by the commission gives opportunities to the targeted beneficiaries, who could not participate in formal school system either due to poverty, cultural or other social barriers to become educated.
Determined to achieve its objectives, the commission introduced various policies and programmes to improve the living standards of its targets.
In Jigawa, 50 basic literacy centres, 20 for females, 25 for males and five for nomadic adults were established to achieve mass literacy education in the state, according to the Sole Administrator of the Mass Literacy Agency, Dr. Ya’u Haruna Usman.
Dr. Usman told Daily Trust in an interview recently that each local government has five centres and four facilitators, adding: “We have a total of 2, 700 facilitators for basic literacy and we pay each of them N5, 000 monthly allowances. The basic education taught in the centres includes reading and writing as well as religious knowledge.”
“For basic and post-literacy, we have five centres in each local government and four facilitators. The basic categories taught are reading, writing and religious knowledge, while the post-literacy has 8 – 10 subjects. While students of post literacy spend two years, their colleagues in the basic education section spend only nine months to collect their certificates,” he said.
On funding, he said the agency has two sources of incomes, the annual budget being allocated to the agency by the state government and the contribution that is coming from the local government areas.
He said the agency received N50m in 2009, N90m in 2010 and N95m, N75m and N74 in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
He added that the 27 local governments of the state are sponsoring 40 out of the 50 centres and the agency has received the sum of N86m, N156m, N193, and N193 from the local government areas in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.
However, despite the huge money spent and the various programmes introduced by the commission since inception and coupled with the complementary efforts by both states and local governments, it appears that the level of illiteracy among Nigerians, especially adults, is still high.
Thousands of people, particularly those that are living in the villages and remote areas, could not be reached by the commission let alone  bailing them out of illiteracy.
According to the executive secretary of the commission, Alhaji Jibrin Paiko, Nigeria’s illiteracy level is rising rapidly with about 56 million adults, representing 35 per cent of the country’s adult population identified as uneducated.
Paiko, who described the situation as alarming, however, said the commission would not relent in its efforts to reverse the trend.
He added that: “Last year the commission introduced a new programme, Revitalising Adult and Youth Literacy Programme, under which we trained 11 master trainers and 111 facilitators between May and June.”
A source close to the commission hinted to Daily Trust that the major constrain of the NMEC was lack of adequate funding. The source, who preferred anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the press, said, “The commission has series of programmes that can improve literacy among Nigerians when implemented but they could not be implemented due to lack of funds.”
He said it is unfortunate that the activities of the NMEC have begun to disappear, particularly in the rural areas, noting: “You hardly see an adult class holding in the rural areas these days. Gradually, the commission is losing its relevance.”
Alhaji Yunusa Muhammad is a beneficiary of adult literacy class in Kano State. He said: “I used to trek from Giginyu to Brigade Primary School every day to acquire knowledge in an adult literacy class and I am thankful to Allah because I can now read and write and even compete with someone who attends formal class.
“I was influenced by a friend, Alhaji Sulaiman, who has been attending the class years before me. When I joined the class, I never thought I could make it but finally I have graduated and collected my certificate.
This is one of my greatest achievements in life.”
Commenting on the importance of the adult literacy programmes, Muhammad said: “No amount of money can be too much to spend on adult education because without education no society can develop, no matter how rich it may be. Therefore, government should revive and strengthen adult literacy programmes so that more adults can be educated in the country.”
He said revitalisation of such programmes can also serve as another avenue for reducing unemployment among graduates as thousands of them can be employed to teach in the adult classes.
He also urged uneducated adults to reciprocate the gesture by attending such classes, saying that “age should not be a barrier to their pursuit to education.”
Yet, the question that is still begging for answer is: can the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-formal Education achieve the objectives of education for all by 2015?