Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu has said the federal government will increase budgetary provisions for adult literacy programmes in the coming years.
The minister said this during a press briefing to make the 2021 International Literacy Day (ILD) in Abuja with the theme: “Literacy for a Human-Centred Recovery: Narrowing the Digital Divide.”
He noted that confronting adult illiteracy and paying attention to out-of-school children would require a comprehensive approach to achieve.
“Government is determined to confront adult literacy programme with the same zeal we are handling out of school children. We look forward to improving budgetary provisions in this regard in the coming years.
“The aim is that by 2030, all young people and adults across the world should have achieved relevant and recognised proficiency levels in functional literacy and numeracy skills that are equivalent to levels achieved at successful completion of basic education,” the minister said.
The minister lamented that the outbreak of COVID 19 pandemic has disrupted the learning of children, young people and adults at an unprecedented scale, saying this might hinder the realisation of the sustainable development goals (SDG) Target 4.6.
According to Adamu, despite 38 per cent of Nigeria’s non-literate adult population, investing in education of parents is key to reducing the number of out-of-school children.
“The aim is that by 2030, all young people and adults across the world should have achieved relevant and recognised proficiency levels in functional literacy and numeracy skills that are equivalent to levels achieved at successful completion of basic education.
“Regrettably the advent of COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the learning of children, young people and adults at an unprecedented scale which might likely hinder the realisation of SDG Target 4.6.”
“As you are aware, it is estimated that over 6.9 million children are out of school.
“This is in addition to the estimated 38% of non-literate adult population. Investing in Education of the parents will have ripple effect on the reduction of out of school children.
“It is a fact that non-literate parents are more likely to breed out of school children, thereby compounding the phenomenon facing our nation today,” the minister stated.
