The Federal Government has expressed concerns over increasing rate of youth and adult illiteracy levels in the country.
Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, said it was alarming that Nigeria had about 63 million illiterate population.
He said this in a statement which he made at a ministerial briefing to mark this year’s International Literacy Day (ILD) in Abuja. It was organized by National Commission for Mass Literacy (NMEC).
Represented by Director, Basic and Secondary Education in the ministry, Dr. Anthony Mbaka, said about 11.5 million children in Nigeria are out of school, while those who are in school do not meet their benchmarks.
The minister added that the government has started developing strong measures and concerted actions to address the challenge of mass illiteracy and the problem of out-of-school children in the country.
He said: “Illiteracy remains a big social and cultural problem, one that can also hinder the economic development of society because without literacy and the culture of literate citizenship, there would be no meaningful development, especially in a situation in which a large number of the citizens can neither read nor write.
“Different official estimates put youth and adult illiteracy levels in Nigeria at about 63 million.
It is also estimated that over 11.5 million children are out of school.
“A large share of children who are in school are not attaining the learning outcome benchmark. Addressing this skills gap is an educational and development imperative.
“To address the challenge of mass illiteracy and the problem of out-of-school children in the country, and to advance the vision of the Muhammadu Buhari administration in its commitment to lift Nigeria out of the problems of illiteracy, poverty, unemployment and other social vices, strong measures and concerted actions are being developed to revitalize he non-formal sector.
“This historic effort will assist in innumerable ways to help Nigerians to possess the requisite knowledge, skills, capabilities and confidence that they need to shape a more stable and thriving future that would advance the country’s quest for sustainable development and economic prosperity.
According to the minister, the economic prosperity of Nigeria depends on her ability to provide functional education to all citizens.
“As our country desires to resolve its development challenges and compete in today’s fast-changing society, every citizen needs to have a wide set of knowledge, skills and competences, including literacy, numeracy and digital competency at a proficiency level, in order to learn, adapt and participate in social, economic, cultural and civic life.
“The security, stability and economic prosperity of Nigeria depend, to a large extent, on her ability to provide functional education to all citizens. One way of addressing unemployment and social vices in concrete terms is in the provision of inclusive quality education for all,” he added.
Executive Secretary of NMEC, Prof. Abubakar Haladu, said the commission has developed an operational plan for a National Mass Literacy Programme.