Abuja – Lagos State Government says it aims to achieve 100 per cent literacy level by 2030.
Mrs Esohe Agbonlahor, Director, Lagos State’s Agency for Mass Education, stated this during interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Abuja on Tuesday.
She called on people of the state to learn to be involved in the quest to eradicating illiteracy from the state.
She held that the state had recorded 87 per cent literacy level through radio broadcast of educational programmes.
Agbonlahor explained that the citizens were taught how to read and write in Yoruba and English languages through the programmes on Eko FM.
She said plans were on to produce the programme in pidgin and Ogbeh (spoken in Badagry) languages to ensure the programme reached those at the grassroots.
Agbonlahor emphasised that the Lagos state government was determined to actualise 100 per cent literacy level before 2030.
She said lack of funding was a challenge to the programme, and solicited for more funds and cooperation of the citizens to ensure sustainability.
“Money can never be enough; we need more funding and cooperation from the people themselves to actualise our goal.’’
Mr Musa Yakubu, Director of Mass Education, FCT, said 128 communities in the FCT had been enrolled in its literacy programme.
Yakubu said poor reception of the Aso radio in some communities was a challenge to the success of the programme.
He explained that FCT agency for the mass education used Aso FM radio for its education programme.
Yakubu said poor funding, language barrier, inadequate sensitisation and non-awareness of participants were factors militating against the programme.
He said that it was possible to attain 70 per cent literacy level in the FCT with increased participation of the area councils and non-government organisations.
“With adequate mobilisation and increased participation of area councils and NGOs, it is possible to reduce the illiteracy rate in FCT by 70 per cent using the literacy by radio programme’’, Yakubu said. (NAN)
