Anwukah commends Commonwealth of Learning for promoting mass literacy in Nigeria

Minister of State for Education, Prof. Anthony Gozie Anwukah, has commended the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) for promoting mass literacy, particularly through the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).

He has also reiterated the Federal Government’s determination to meet all its obligations to the body, as soon as the country’s financial situation improves.

Anwukah who spoke while receiving the president of the group, Prof. Asha Kanwar, who was on a courtesy visit to his office, according to a press statement said the Federal Government is actively promoting Open and Distance Learning through NOUN and the National Teachers Institute (NTI), as alternative ways of increasing access to higher education.

He informed his guest that NOUN currently runs 75 study centres across the country with an estimated population of 184,000 active students, as at 2015/2016 academic session.

Anwukah said the country’s conventional public universities have failed to meet the demands of the ever-growing population of Nigerian children seeking admission into tertiary institutions owing to the challenge of low carrying capacity, adding that the NOUN has tremendously reduced the pressure as well as provided opportunities for the working class to study while they work.

He recalled that Nigeria has been a member of COL since 2006 and has been meeting its annual financial contribution to the tune of $750,000 until the current economic downturn. Nigeria also occupies two seats in the COL Board of Governors, and the Audit Committee of the Board. Professor Anwukah reiterated.

He charged the COL to extend more of its services to the country to enable her citizens benefit from its distance learning programmes.

Kanwar in her remarks thanked the Nigerian government for its contributions to the success of the COL as, according to her, the organisation is funded by voluntary bodies and public-spirited institutions, prominent amongst which is Nigeria.

Prof. Kanwar asserted that COL lays more emphasis on quality education access and equity, which she explained, is aimed at breaking the circle of poverty, a debilitating phenomenon in the third world.