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Tag: World Literacy Day

  • Ikosi pupils get bags, books as Lions Club marks World Literacy Day

    Ikosi pupils get bags, books as Lions Club marks World Literacy Day

    Lions International, through its Lagos New Emerald Lions Club, District 404B2 Nigeria, on Friday donated school bags, books and other learning materials to pupils of Ikosi Nursery and Primary School, Ketu, Lagos, to mark this year’s International Literacy Day.

    The intervention, carried out in conjunction with Lagos British Lions Club and Lagos Indiana Lions Club, turned the school premises into a scene of excitement as children gleefully lined up to receive the items. Their cheers filled the air as the head teacher led them in call-and-response chants to celebrate the moment.

    President of Lagos New Emerald Lions Club, Lion Kadiri Olaide Bilkis, NLCF, said the project was inspired by a passion to meet the needs of children in public schools where basic materials are lacking.

    “Most of these pupils carry their books in polythene bags. When we visited this school two years ago, we saw their needs and promised to return. September 8 is International Literacy Day, and with the resumption of school, we are here to fulfil that promise,” she said.

    She added the donation was only one of many initiatives the club has lined up.

    “By next month we will hold our Mental Health and Wellbeing Day at the Federal Neuropsychiatric Home, Yaba, Lagos. In November, we will host the Peace Poster Contest in Ikeja and by December we will visit either a motherless babies’ home or a blind school for our hunger relief project. We have a calendar of service for the entire year,” she said.

    The Head Teacher of Ikosi Nursery and Primary School, Mrs Akin Ojo T. A., lauded the gesture, saying it would boost pupils’ morale and encourage school attendance.

    “What Lions Club has done today is to encourage our pupils to learn more and to be regular in school. Even this morning, a new pupil who came with her mother to make enquiries about admission told her mother she did not want to go home after seeing the distribution of bags and books. She wanted to be part of it. That shows the power of this kind of support,” she said.

    She appealed for more intervention from public-spirited organisations, stressing that supporting public schools was key to reducing the number of out-of-school children and ensuring a brighter future for young learners.

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    Other teachers who spoke also thanked the Lions Club and called on corporate bodies and individuals to emulate the gesture.

    “Some of our classrooms have leaking roofs, and during this rainy season it is affecting the children’s studies. Some classes do not have enough tables and chairs. We need help,” they appealed.

    Service Chairperson of the club, Lion Ayodele Raymond, said the objectives of the project were to enhance the learning experience of pupils, encourage regular attendance and reaffirm the club’s commitment to community service.

    For the children of Ikosi Nursery and Primary School, the day was one to remember: a day when joy came in the form of new school bags, writing materials and renewed hope for a better learning environment.

    In the spirit of World Literacy Day, the Lions Club reminded the community that education remains the surest tool for lifting children out of poverty and opening doors of opportunity.

    By putting books and bags in the hands of eager pupils, the club underscored the global call to leave no child behind in the pursuit of knowledge.

  • OEQA celebrates World Literacy Day

    OEQA celebrates World Literacy Day

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    The Lagos State Office of Education Quality Assurance (OEQA) has joined the rest of the world to celebrate this year’s World Literacy Day.

    The event, themed “Promoting Multilingual Literacy for Mutual Understanding and Peace,” emphasized the pivotal role of language diversity in fostering inclusive education, cultural understanding, and social harmony.

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    Speaking at the event, held at the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) Pavilion, Alausa, on Wednesday, the Lagos State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Mr. Tolani Jamiu Ali-Balogun, highlighted the transformative power of literacy in driving positive change across all sectors of the economy.

    He urged individuals to embrace reading and lifelong learning as tools for personal and societal growth. “Literacy is not just about reading and writing,” he said.

    “It encompasses local intelligence, knowledge, wisdom, and shared experiences that transcend traditional definitions. Reading allows us to lead effectively and rediscover the vast possibilities of the world around us.”

  • World Literacy Day: Club donates books, writing materials to 1000 pupils

    World Literacy Day: Club donates books, writing materials to 1000 pupils

    As part of its September activities, Ikeja Dynamic Lions Club has donated textbooks, exercise books, mathematical sets and other writing materials to about 1000 pupils in St Peters Anglican Primary School and Adeniyi Jones Primary School both in Ikeja, Lagos.

    According to club president, Lion Adeola Boluogun, the gesture was part of the club’s way of commemorating this year’s World Literacy Day, which also coincides with the ‘Back to school’ season.

    “We’re here to donate writing materials, textbooks, exercise books, biro, pencils and mathematical sets to pupils in commemoration of this year’s World Literacy Day. We do this every year and it is like a ‘Back to school’ project for us.”

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    Every year, Boluogun told The Nation that the club extends this gesture to schools within the Ikeja axis. Last year we were at Agidingbi Primary School; and usually we give the books directly to the pupils, not to the teachers; and then we donate whatever is left to the school libraries. Today we have been able to serve two schools: about 700 pupils in St Peters Anglican Primary School and between 250/300 pupils in Adeniyi Jones Primary school, which means we have been able to serve about 1000 pupils.”

    Disclosing that the project was financed through members’ donations, Boluogun expressed his appreciation to LearnAfrica, which he said responded to its request for support by donating some of the textbooks to them.

  • World Literacy Day: Foundation harps on digital literacy

    THE Gani Adams Foundations (GAF) has joined the world to celebrate the World Literacy Day.

    Fifty-one years ago, United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)  proclaimed September 8 as International Literacy Day to mobilise the international community to promote literacy as an instrument for empowerment.

    The Osun Hall of the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja venue of the event, was filled with intellectuals, cultural enthusiasts, media practitioners, teachers and pupils who lent their voices to the importance of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in the 20th century.

    GAF’s Chairman/Managing Director, Otunba Gani Adams, who was excited with this year’s theme: ‘Literacy in the digital world’, underscored the need for Africans to shift from ‘analogue operation’.

    In her lecture titled: ‘Literacy in a digital world’, Dr Kemi Ojemoghaat of the Department of Adult Education, University of Lagos (UNILAG), described digital literacy as a sine qua non to living, adding that technology dictates communication and interaction within mankind.

    She called on the government to make digital literacy affordable, and create a link between the teaching of ICT in schools and industries.

    She said: “A survey conducted by Research ICT Africa in 2011, disclosed that 70 per cent of non- internet users in Nigeria say affordability is the main reason for not using the internet. The majority of internet users in Nigeria access it exclusively using mobile devices. Smart phones and tablets have become very popular in Nigeria.

    “Nevertheless, a mobile broadband cost is high for most people in a country like Nigeria where low per capita incomes subsists.’’

    She continued: “The ICT curriculum does not provide the skills that industry value. Despite support from the government, many ICT teachers still do not have the qualifications or knowledge to teach the computing curriculum. Given the pace of technological advances, it will always be a challenge for schools to keep up with the latest innovations.”

    A retired professor of African Philosophy at UNILAG, Sophie Oluwole, lamented the loss of Yoruba oral tradition, which according to her, forms the bedrock of knowledge acquisition.

    Ifa, Oluwole explained, is a warehouse of knowledge, which cuts across all disciplines including ICT, if acquired.

    “If Ifa has over 256 odu and yet our fore fathers without the knowledge of reading and writing, were able to not only memorise, but also passed same to the next generation. Unfortunately, the influence of modern religions have made those practice look fetish or Satanic to an average Yoruba. But I can tell you that Ifa is the bedrock of intellectual knowledge which can be learned to derive new inspirations in engineering, science,and ICT, just name it.”

    Oluwole said it was not too late for Nigeria to ape Asian countries, such as Japan, China, and Malaysia, which have attained technological advancement through adoption of their mother tongue as official languages.

    Adams said he was praised the UN for the choice of the theme.

    “I love this year’s theme,” he said.

    “Truth is, the world is going digital and the United Nations through the theme, is challenging us to drastically reduce our analogue way of doing things.

    “Some developed societies no longer conduct their activities manually. Even some corporate bodies and institutions are going digital. Some conduct paperless meetings. This reduces work load or hauling of papers and files from one office to another.

    “For instance, the mobile phones we use have several applications beyond mere making and receiving calls; unfortunately, most of us only use it to make calls, and failing to utilise other apps for knowledge possession.”

    Adams said GAF had identified with the UN through propagating, organising interactive sessions and giving educational materials to schools.

     

     

  • Prioritise ICT – based teaching- Obaseki

    Prioritise ICT – based teaching- Obaseki

    The Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has decried the prevalence of obsolete teaching methods in institutions of learning in Nigeria, which he said, accounted in part, for the high figures of illiterate and poorly educated people as against the lower figures in other countries.

    Obaseki said it was time for policy makers to change the approach to teaching and learning by prioritising the use of Information and Communication Technology in bridging the wide gap.

    The governor made the recommendations as the world celebrates World Literacy Day, on Friday, August 8.

    According to him, “the global event is an opportunity for policy makers in the education sector, parents and educationists to review the efforts at increasing the number of literate people in Nigeria,” the governor said.

    “We cannot continue with the old teaching methods that failed to put us in the league of the most literate people in the world” he stressed, and explained that “the efforts of governments at various levels, to build and equip more schools, employ and train more teachers, encourage children to come to school through various initiatives like the School Feeding Programme of the federal government, would not yield the desired result if at the policy level, the use of ICT is not placed on the front burner.”

    Obaseki said his administration’s ICT-driven educational policy, was in line with the theme of this year’s International Literacy Day: “Literacy in a Digital World” which seeks to determine the literacy skills that are needed by people, to navigate the increasingly digitally-mediated world and all the associated opportunities.

    He said his administration has commenced work on the digitalisation of libraries in public schools, while the revamp of the Benin Technical College, which will have a Technology Park on completion, was ongoing.

    “Edo University Iyamho is leveraging on the strength of Information and Communication Technology, while Edo State Polytechnic, Usen, and the College of Agriculture, Iguoriakhi, are being repositioned to deliver modern manpower,” the governor said, and added that remodeling work was also ongoing in several primary and post primary schools across the state, to reset them to increase the literacy and numeracy levels in the state.

    Obaseki further said that part of his administration’s plan was to ensure the state-owned media outfits – The Nigerian Observer and Edo Broadcasting Service (Radio and Television stations) – dedicate quality space and air time to educating the young and adults alike.

    The 2015 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) survey revealed that 65 million of Nigerians are illiterates, which experts say could jeopardize government’s efforts at removing millions of Nigerians from poverty.

    An earlier survey in 2010 conducted by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) put the literacy level in Edo State at 45.8 per cent, with adult literacy rate at 56.9 per cent. The highest is Lagos at 92.0 per cent and the lowest, Borno State at 14.5 percent.

  • Celebrating world literacy day

    Celebrating world literacy day

    The world marked the International Literacy Day on September 8. It is usually celebrated worldwide bringing together governments, multi and bi-lateral organizations, NGO’s, the private sectors, communities, teachers, learners and experts.

    The theme of the 2015 edition “Literacy and sustainable Societies” was dedicated to exploring critical links and synergy between literacy and future sustainable development goals.

    The general perspective of literacy is the ability to read and write, it however goes beyond that. The former United Nations Secretary General and winner 2001 Nobel peace prize, Dr Kofi Anan defines Literacy as “a bridge from misery to hope. It is a basic tool for daily life in modern society. It is a wall against poverty and a building block of development, Literacy is a vehicle for the promotion of cultural and national identity.”

    With more than 4 billon literate people in the world, one might think the war against illiteracy has been won but that will be wrong.

    According to United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UN ESCO), 775 million people are considered non-literate of which 85 percent live in 41 countries, Nigeria inclusive.

    [ad id=”403656″]Every year, this occasion offers a chance for all stakeholders, governmental organizations and others to reflect on the Country’s literacy state and make efforts to ensure the realization of the national mass literacy project.

    The government however needs to try harder in curbing illiteracy in the country.

    When asked how the government has helped literacy in the country, Mr. Awonyifa Bala, Vice Principal of Oduduwa Secondary School, Mushin said; “Illiteracy is a cankerworm that has eaten deep into our society, although most children these days go to school but how about the adults. They are in some kind of fix so something should be done about helping uneducated adults go back to school. The government has done a lot, they plan but they lack supervision. So they should see that their education policies get implemented”.

    Also speaking with The Nation, Mr Taiwo, VP Academics of Ifelodun Secondary School, Papa Ajao, said; “Free education should be given to students in the country, they should also be motivated – Motivation in the sense that if they attend school, they wouldn’t need to buy biro and other writing materials. In some areas in the country, they believe western education is bad which is not supposed to be because it gives room for them to be deceived. Government has done well in planning but without supervision.’’

    The international literacy day was first proclaimed on November 17, 1965 and first celebrated in 1966.

     

  • Lagos celebrates World Literacy Day

    Lagos celebrates World Literacy Day

    Lagos State government has concluded plans to join the rest of the world on September 17 to celebrate the World Literacy Day, with the theme:  ”Literacy and Sustainable Development”.

    The Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Education, Otunba Fatai Olukoga, spoke at a news conference organised as a prelude to the event.

    He said the weeklong celebration, which begins on September 8, will end on September 17 at the Oshodi/Isolo Local Government ground, Oshodi, Lagos.

    Olukoga said the celebration was put in place by the United Nations to remind the international community that literacy was a human right and a foundation for learning, adding that it was essential for eradicating poverty, reducing child mortality, curbing overpopulation, achieving gender equality and ensuring sustainable development, peace and democracy.

    The special adviser noted that the survey conducted by the Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget put the literacy level in the state at 89 per cent.

    Activities lined up to achieve the eradication of illiteracy and meet the Education for All (EFA) and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) include literacy by radio, an initiative of the United Nations,  sponsored by Governor Babatunde Fashola; establishment of an average of 564 centres across the 20 local governments and 37 local council development areas, etc.

    The Director, Agency for Mass Education, Mrs. Amore Adefolahan, said the objective of observing the World Literacy Day is to mobilise public opinion in favour of the struggle against illiteracy.

    According to her, it is estimated that there are 879 million illiterate adults in the world, of which two-third are women.

    Mrs. Adefolahan expressed satisfaction about the level of support the programme enjoyed from the Fashola administration, by making the eradication of illiteracy a priority.

    She hoped there would be a decline in the population of illiterates.