Studies have shown that a significant number of children, particularly in the early grades, struggle with reading, comprehension and mathematics. While it has become imperative to tackle the learning problem, the Early Grade Reading (EGR) programme in basic education should be properly implemented across states. Other long term measures should also be deployed, DAMOLA KOLA-DARE reports.
With more than 70 per cent of Nigerian children aged seven to 14 lacking basic reading and mathematics skills, it became necessary to expedite action on the measures to deploy to address what has been termed a “learning crisis”.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), research has shown that schooling does not always translate to learning. It noted that “many children, even if in school, are not learning fundamental skills required for proficiency.”
Enter Early Grade Reading (EGR)
Thus, the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) took a bold step in addressing the issue through the introduction of the Early Grade Reading (EGR) programme.
Erstwhile Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr. Hamid Bobboyi, said the commission was determined to turn the situation round by boosting foundational literacy in the basic education sub-sector.
He stressed the importance of proficiency in reading at an early age, describing it as a key indicator of the prospects of future academic success. He noted that the ability to read serves as the foundation upon which all other learning activities are built. Therefore, early stage competence is significant as it is crucial.
“Despite this globally acknowledged ideal, recent studies have shown that a significant number of children in Nigeria, particularly in the early grades, struggle to achieve the basics of reading and comprehension.
“The absence of these basic skills at an appropriate age presents a serious challenge, not just for individual learning outcomes, but also effective education service delivery as well as the overall development and future prosperity of our nation,” he said.
Bobboyi noted that the Result-based Financing (RBF) model for supporting Early Grade Reading (EGR) reading activities is a strategic intervention aimed at reversing the trend where children are unable to read or understand basic literature in tandem with their age.
According to him, UBEC through this intervention would provide funding support, not only for routine activities but for evidence-based improvements in early grade reading outcomes.
Bobboyi emphasised the important role of State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs) in the success of the programme and solicited their cooperation.
While it is important that pupils learn to read in the early grades, experts reckon that many find it difficult to do so in developing countries. This has resulted in EGR interventions to address the problem.
EGR is a specific type of programme deployed to strengthen core reading skills in pupils in lower classes. It also involves training teachers to teach reading using simplified instruction and evidence-based curricula, among other approaches.
Experts believe EGR is a short term fix to address learning problems, as it is a means to make substantial improvements in reading skills over a short period of time, thus reinforcing the need for multiple approaches.
Integrated, multi-sectoral strategy required
Coordinator of Child Protection Network (CPN), Lagos State chapter, Mrs. Bimbo Oyelakin, called for an integrated, multi-sectoral strategy that is backed by efforts in the education sector and other sectors that are necessary to enhance learning.
She said it is expected that at age 10, all children should be able to read, since it is a doorway for learning, but a great concern for a child to not be able to read. This, she said, makes it essential to check the nation’s educational systems to determine if it is effectively structured to assist children in learning.
She said: “The battle against learning poverty will need an integrated, multi-sectoral strategy that is backed by efforts in areas other than the education sector, that is, in all of the other sectors that are necessary to enhance learning. This is due to the fact that ensuring that all children have access to educational opportunities necessitates the provision of better water and sanitation, enhanced health and nutrition, enhanced social protection for populations that are at a disadvantage, reforms to the civil service, and improved management and financing of public services.
“It is going to be an holistic approach involving all the stakeholders as well as families, educators, members of civil society, the business sector, government and other ministries, departments and agencies. In conclusion, the role that families and communities play in developing the desire for education, establishing the appropriate atmosphere for learning, and supporting the appropriate education reforms has to be given a greater amount of attention.
“For children to be successful in their education, it is essential that the foundations of reading, writing, and arithmetic be taught with the utmost importance. And constant efforts should be made to recover students’ lost knowledge and concentrate on teaching themost important information that was missed. Consequently, it is essential to make investments in education that equip children and young people with the applicable theoretical and practical abilities.
“Adopting efficient teaching practices that support teachers in their immediate classroom challenges in a cost-effective manner, such as formalised teaching programmes and resources to target instruction to students’ current learning levels, is one way to make classroom instruction more effective.”
Teacher motivation, prioritising education key
Vice Chancellor, African School of Economics (The Pan-African University of Excellence), Abuja, Prof. Mahfouz Adedimeji, noted that to address the drift, teachers should be properly remunerated and motivated.
He stressed the importance of reversing the factors and converting the pains to gains, adding that the standard of education is high in Europe, especially Finland and Germany, because of the attention, recognition and remuneration given to teachers.
“In spite of the efforts government may be making, that there is crisis of learning in schools appears to be an open sore that assails our national psyche. And where this crisis is most predominant is our public schools.
“Public schools are especially bedeviled by poor working conditions for teachers, including slave salaries, dearth of modern teaching and learning facilities, poor or zero inspectorate system and lack of social recognition for teachers. These factors have negatively affected teachers’ attitude to work and the quality of their service delivery.
“We have to reverse the factors and convert the pains they constitute to gains. The standard of education is high in Europe, especially Finland and Germany, because of the attention, recognition and remuneration given to teachers.
“When the former German Chancellor, Angela Markel, was asked why engineers, doctors and judges were paid less than teachers, she replied, ‘How can I compare you to those who taught you?’
“None of the E9 or D8 countries, other than Nigeria, allocates nothing less than 20 per cent of their annual budgets to education. This is where the problem lies.
“There would be learning crisis in a situation whereby just seven percent (N3.52 trillion) of the 2025 budget is allocated to education. Whereas, the benchmark recommended for countries like Nigeria for education, by agencies like UNESCO and United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), is between 15 and 20 per cent of national budgets.
“Until education is accorded the right priority, the situation would remain the same or even worse. So, I call on governments and other stakeholders to accord education its rightful priority and decisively address and confront the identified learning crisis,” he said.
‘Create community libraries, deploy mother tongue as language of learning’
Proprietress of Tumi Olugunwa International School in Lagos, Mrs. Ibigbami Atinuke, advocated creation of libraries in a child’s immediate environment, the use of native language as the primary language for learning, child-friendly community, among others. These, according to her, are significant toward salvaging the situation.
On why the problem runs deeper, she said: “The fact is that the community is no more child-friendly. A child learns his first letter from his immediate family, which includes his parents, his relatives, his neighbours and people living within his community.
“The school becomes his second home because it has his age mates and other people he sees everyday within his community. He learns basic skills of life through socialisation. He understands the riddles of life through daily experience and moonlight tales by the elders in the community. He understands and identifies things in his native language and then relates them to foreign language. He has access to used textbooks by his elders at home or within the community carefully kept for him.
“Unfortunately, the community friendly system of the olden days are regarded barbaric, outdated and an invasion of privacy. Our native language that is supposed to be the first primary language for learning is regarded as vernacular. Sharing of textbooks within siblings is no more allowed. So, we base teaching on new methods and new experience. There is no acquiring from former knowledge.
“The community so close to the child is devoid of standard library; at the junction of many streets in the community you see display of alcohol, drugs and even bet shops. So, the child is abused mentally, emotionally and physically.”
She, however, added that Ministry of Education officials should work more on the field instead of sitting in their various offices, stressing that schools should be involved in student-centred teaching, and prioritise more practical and visual works.
Compliance to key policies crucial
Anuoluwapo Edun of the Latter Glory Development Foundation noted that insecurity in some parts of the country, especially the northern part has seriously disrupted learning as most children are scared of going to school for fear of being kidnapped or killed.
She said most schools are poorly equipped for learning, as classrooms are overcrowded and there are inadequate teaching materials to aid learning.
She also said gender inequality is a major problem as young girls, especially in the northern part of the country, instead of attending school are being set up for marriage at early age and thus depriving them of quality education.
Edun, therefore, suggested that government should implement good educational policies and at the same time ensure strict compliance at all times, while also investing in human capacity development.
