Minister Charges Stakeholders On Effective ICT

The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu has called for workable strategies that would move the country’s education sector forward.
Adamu, represented by  Deputy Director at the Library Service Department in the ministry Mr Okon Umoh,told participants and stakeholders at the Pan-African Literacy for All Conference, 2017 in Abuja.
The Tide source reports that the theme of the conference is “Connecting and Engaging with Literacy: Systems and Structure for Sustainable Development”.
“Literacy is something that should be acquired by every human being irrespective of gender, age, class, race and religion.
“It empowers the individual to contribute meaningfully in the development of the society. Thus as long as individual lives, he or she continues to learn and acquire skills.
“This type of conference has been held in countries like Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, Botswana and Tanzania. It is, therefore, a necessity for teachers and stakeholders to acquire skills to do more.
“It is my hope that you will take advantage of this conference to deliberate effectively and ensure that the gain of this conference are translated into effective and efficient teaching and learning strategies,” Adamu said.
Also, Mrs Irene Mbanefo, President of Reading Association of Nigeria (RAN), said that the conference would bring out positive suggestions that would move the education sector forward.
She commended the participants from U.S., Canada and other parts of the world, adding that their contributions at the conference would impact positively on both human and national development.
The representative of International Reading Association, USA Dr Samuel Andama, maintained that strategies to enhance literacy in the developed countries were different from that in Africa.
According to Andama, of all the regions in the world, “the most difficult region in which to promote literacy is Africa.”
He explained that in Europe and North America, over 96 per cent of children were able to go to school till the end of the year and achieved their required standard of literacy.
“In Africa, only 40 per cent can go to school, complete and be able to read; that means, 60 per cent of our children are not in school and are not able to read and write.
“That is a very scary figure, because it doesn’t give us hope for the future. Studies in the last five years revealed that only 10 per cent of the children who go to primary school in Africa could read and write.
“This clearly shows that even if our children go to school, they do not go there to learn, it therefore means that all efforts of the teachers are making to teach are not translating to the desire output.
“There is a great need for us to rethink our approach. The difference between what goes on in North America and Europe and Africa lies in a relationship between researches, policy and practice.
“In the western world, these three aspects are interlinked to the extent that research is respected for planning and it informed policy and other meaning venture to enhance literacy.
“But unfortunately, in Africa, universities, government and other institutions, researches get the least budget. We need to bridge the gap and address the issue,” Andama said.
Our correspondent reports that participants at the conference are literacy and education stakeholders from Nigeria, Canada, United States, Brazil, Slovenia, Australia and Norway.
Others include Ghana, Uganda, Zambia, Botswana, Tanzania, Chad, Ethiopia, Zambia, Mozambique and Swaziland.
The conference will end on August 31.