Get Guardian on Google
The Federal Government has said that 63 million adults are illiterates and 11.5 million children are out of school in the country.
Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, stated this yesterday in Abuja during the flag-off of the 2017 International Literacy Day celebration.
He said the Day serves as a platform for government at all levels and other stakeholders to review the progress so far made to tackle problem of adult illiteracy and the menace of out-of school children.
[ad]
Adamu, represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Sunny Echono, decried the situation in which a large number of the citizens could neither read nor write.
He said: “Worldwide, 750 million adults today still lack even the most basic literacy skills. Some 264 million children and youths are not benefiting from education.”
The minister said the theme of the 2017 International Literacy Day, “Literacy in a digital world”, was apt considering the present administration’s determination to bring the necessary development to the country, adding that digital tools would play a great role in expanding access to learning.
Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Mass Literacy and Adult Education (NMEC), Prof. Abba Abubakar Haladu, while acknowledging the challenges of tackling adult illiteracy, said the Commission has come up with an operational plan to address the problems.
He, however, called for support of all stakeholders to address the challenges as the Federal Government alone would not be able to do it.
