Improving Youth and Adult Multilingual Basic Literacy Education in the North Central Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria

Abstract

1. Background of the Study Nigeria is committed to the actualization of Education for All (EFA) and Sustainable Development Goals intended to achieve 100% enrollment and completion of basic education by all citizens within the soon coming years, no matter their life circumstances. This commitment has become more relevant with statistics showing that seventeen (17) out of thirty-seven (37) States in Nigeria could not achieve the Education for All goal 4 by 2015, because they had youth and adult literacy rates between 14.5 to 49.3%. These included mainly the northern States which had considerably large population of pastoralists and rural learners. A two pronged approach to literacy was envisioned to accelerate the process through significant advocacy and investments that would ensure wider access and inclusion of out-of-school children, youths and adults in adequate basic education and effective learning opportunities, to develop literacy skills: First was the development of a policy guideline for adult and non-formal education to set up structures for promoting diverse learning through the guideline. This approach was actualized to include the multilingual dimension to literacy education that would validate the pivotal role of languages in achieving the skill expectations (NMEC, 2017). The second approach was to dispel the narrow-mindedness and uncertainty about local languages and eradicate the often hidden attempt to discredit them as being an obstacle to learning and acquisition of literacy skills (Qane and Glanz, 2010).

Effectiveness of Adult Environmental Training Programme from the Perspective of Adult Facilitators and Learners in Enugu State, Nigeria

“…This is an indication that every environmental adult education facilitator needs adequate training in these areas if the goals of effective implementation of EAE programme is to be attained. This finding is also in line with Igbo [16] findings that facilitators should be able to motivate, communicate effectively, understand the needs of adult learners and provide support to meet such needs to be able to facilitate effective learning in the adult education centres.…”