March 29, 2024

Illiteracy simply means not knowing how to read or write documents, books, street signs, safety instructions on the jobs, news prints or even able to sign ‘original copy collected byme’ if required to do so.

It can also connote or mean lack of being lettered as a result of no training, orientation or education. Illiterate people are those who cannot read or write, who are uneducated, untrained and unequipped to participate in the ever changing world of information and communication technology (ICT). Illiteracy, as we know, was the bane of primitive societies as they could not read or write nor were they able to keep documentations.

 

Causes of Illiteracy

There are many causes of illiteracy in our society today. Here are some of them:

1) Poverty: This is a condition of having very little money, food, clothes, shoes, shelter, etc as basic needs. People on poverty line are always backward, because of lack of adequate resources to bring them out of such environment. Even when the poverty-stricken people are in training or school, they cannot pay adequate attention in teaching and learning process. They do not feed well, cloth well and live in decent environment.

Poverty causes malnutrition that provides a fertile ground for diseases, lack of concentration and failure in tests and examinations. Government is not keeping quiet on this but has mounted so many programmes to alleviate the poverty. We. have all sort of Poverty Alleviation Programmes to improve the lot of people and relieve them from suffering and economic hardship. The National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) is doing wonders on this area.

 

2) Traditions and Values: Some beliefs and other traditional values provide dangerous drawback for literacy to be acquired by children, youths and adult members of society who would want to be educated. Societies that cherish marriage of many wives by one man at a time have the tendency to attach less importance to education. They prefer farming and petty jobs like hawking, begging, doing home chores as house-helps in people’s homes, etc to going to school. Among some religious groups, western education is a taboo. A good example is the Boko Haram sect that unleashed untold hardship in the north eastern states of Nigeria in 2009. They were against western education. In fact, they believe that western education is evil and should be fought or stopped. People who grossly attach to traditions and values are living in the past and are resisting change.

 

3) Wrong Policies and Priorities: Policies are planned actions of government, institutions, individuals, etc directed towards goals such as projects or programmes while priorities are issues, problems and things seen to be of more importance and should be handled first. Wrong policies and priorities in Nigeria are among the causes of illiteracy in that they are done in either panic or haste. In the 1980s, technical workshop equipment that were brought into our school system without the enabling environment such as the trained man-power and the workshop where these equipment are installed but were later stolen from where they were packed.

Another example of a wrong policy is the government’s policy of recruiting teachers that taught in our public schools. This was done in a hurry. This opened the way to crash programmes and the result was half-baked teachers posted to public schools to teach. Most of the products of crash programmes were not given the rigorous training expected in the teacher training colleges. The students taught by halfbaked teachers turned out to be certificated illiterates.

 

4) Wrong Attitude to Education: Attitude refers to the consistent way or manner of feeling and reacting to issues, people or events in society. So many people have very wrong attitude to education and this has contributed to the increased rate of illiteracy. Wrong attitude to education in Nigeria today could be seen in all the things we do. In going to school, the notion of unemployment after graduation, the notion that unless you have people in high places you can’t get admission into a university, the idea of examination malpractice or miracle centres, poor reading habits, playing politics over educational needs, the feelings or comments that the standard of education has fallen and would continue to fall, all refer to wrong attitude to education which leads to increase in illiteracy rate.

 

5) Poor and Inadequate Facilities: It is unfortunate that facilities in our schools are poor and inadequate. For example, school buildings, laboratory equipment, textbooks, computer equipment, school health services, toilets, urinary physical education pitches and equipment, etc. They are poor in the sense of their inferior nature, as they can only be used once or twice and they are out of use. They are also inadequate in the sense that the quantity available cannot go round to reach every school and their students.

 

6) Lack of Access: Access means a way of entering a place, the right to use something or to see somebody or something. Illiteracy grows in our society because of lack of access to the opportunity of receiving quality education. Many people are from poor and irregular income families that have little or nothing to eat, not to think of sending their wards to school. Children from such families are often seen hawking, being used as house-helps, etc in order to ease off the problem of providing what to eat. The Fulani nomads move from place to place with their cattle and family. Such people have no chance of formal education, hence the nomadic education which in nature is irregular.

Today, there is lack of access to information systems, to computer, internet and others in Nigeria. Such people are illiterate in these modern information systems. Chances are slim for students in public secondary schools to receive practical computer education, because of non-availability of these modern facilities in the majority of the schools.

 

Consequences of Illiteracy

The consequences of illiteracy are many to any given society, because education brings about total transformation of both man and his environment. It is a vehicle of change and development. Man is a reflection of his society and no society can rise above the level of its education.

1) Ignorance: Illiteracy manifests in ignorance. Ignorance is lack of knowledge or information about something. Ignorance can lead to prejudice, misunderstanding, disease, malnutrition, retarded growth and development. Ignorant people lack the ability of team spirit, cannot appreciate values and issues. Lack of education brings about ignorance and ignorance is a canker worm that eats people’s minds.

 

2) Proneness to Manipulations: Illiterates are easily cajoled and confused by influential people or money bags to cause troubles in society. For example, in politics, religion, economic and cultural issues, most illiterate people are used as public dancers, thugs, touts, fanatics, etc. Illiterate people are prone to a lot of wrong beliefs or superstitious beliefs. For example, some people believe that certain diseases cannot be cured in hospitals with modern medicine. Such diseases like convulsion fracture and stroke are regarded as diseases treated better with traditional medicine. This belief is wrong and misleading.

 

3) Ethnic Manipulations: Illiterate people are easily manipulated by a self-centered few to dance to the tune of ethnicity. Most times, they are meant to believe that they are cheated or denied their rights, and so, whatever their ethnic groups say is more acceptable to them without objection. They respect their ethnic leaders or people more than national leaders. Proper education should remove all the inhibitions as a result of ethnic fear and prejudice. When this is done, malice, quarrel and fight will become a thing of the past.

 

4) Illiteracy Inhibits Technological Advancement: The more the people are educationally backward, the wider the problem of technological development. Technology has to do with the information, tools and techniques used for utilization of natural and human resources. Illiteracy hinders the acquisition and proper use of skills in technology and its discoveries. A society that wants to develop must harness and put its potentials in the right type of education. Illiteracy rate today has a greater percentage in the adults.

Adult education and enlightenment is still a different task to be tackled. It is this group of adult illiterates that constitute inhibition to advancement in science and technological advancement. What they knew before cannot allow them to acquire new ideas, innovations, electronic equipment and the likes. A good example is the inability of the adults to master all the devices in modern handsets, radio, television, V.C.D, D.V.D, computers, etc. The youth are quick in mastery and manipulation of these new technologies.

 

5) Abuse of Rights: It was a common thing to hear of abuse of human rights of persons, groups or organizations in the dailies, radio, television, in the street, etc. Most illiterate people are not aware of their various rights as bona fide citizens and so may not know when such rights are abused or denied them. They do not also know their obligations, and so, most times, act in ignorance, which of course is no excuse to punishment in the law court. There is abuse of rights like right to life, property, liberty, security, freedom of moment, association, expression, religion etc. For example, most illiterate parents are not aware that the 9-year basic education is free and compulsory for every Nigerian child, yet these parents still send their wards to hawk and do the work of house-helps instead of going to school that is free. Most people will not exercise their right of voting during election, because they feel their votes do not count and so may not know they have such rights to choose their leaders. Some people will not allow census enumerators to count them, because they believe it is a taboo to be counted, and again, they will be called upon to pay tax. These are some of the ills of illiteracy which is not helping us move forward.

 

6) Shortage of Trained and High Level Manpower: The central task of modern education is the development of trained high level manpower in society equippedwith the information of transforming their environment. These trained and high level manpower are in short supply. This could be seen in the number of trained doctors, technologists, geologists, administrators, etc. in our social institutions. Social institutions are centres where correct first-hand information could be collected. Coupled with this is the old method employed to develop trained and high level manpower at the skill acquisition centres, universities and polytechnics. There is need for reorganizing the content, techniques and methods of training high level manpower at all levels for the total elimination of illiteracy among us.

 

Solutions to the Problems of Illiteracy

1) An Enabling Policy Environment: To stamp out or eradicate illiteracy among us, the policy of enabling environment like the 9-year Basic Education (UBE), National Directorate for Employment (NDE), Skills Acquisition centres etc by the government is a welcome measure in the right direction, but must be matched with positive action. Government should build more schools, renovate dilapidated infrastructures, recruit more qualified teachers, provide more instructional materials and organize capacity building seminars for teachers. These programmes should be well-funded, monitored and supervised and all states must be compelled to implement the scheme to full capacity. Also, the curricula for these programmes should be restructured to provide the child with diverse basic knowledge and skills for entrepreneurship, wealth generation and educational advancement. In other words, it must be diversified to stand the taste of time and needs.

 

2) Provision of Access to Education and Provision of Facilities: Education should be made affordable to all the citizens that are of age not considering sex, geographical background, religion and the likes. There should be access to pre-primary, primary, postprimary, tertiary, adult education centres, skills acquisition centres in the country. It should be well funded by the federal government. It should be tuition-free at all levels. Education should be put in the federal exclusive legislative list, the concurrent list of education is posing great obstacles to the total eradication of illiteracy in Nigeria. The payment of salaries and other allowances should be regular and adequate.

 

3) Provision of Facilities: Facilities are essential in teaching and learning. Facilities in form of school buildings, textbooks, games, equipment, furniture, funds and personnel to manage these facilities should be provided.

 

5) Mobilization of Citizens: There should be massive enlightenment campaign and programmes for mass literacy among the people. Government should encourage all classes of people to embrace formal education which it has made free and compulsory. They should create the awareness through the mass media, national and state orientation agencies (NOA), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), etc on the consequences of illiteracy and the benefits open to literate people in society.

 

5) Citizenship Education: The citizens should be educated on the benefits of literacy so as to stimulate them into embracing it entirely and whole. They should be made to understand that education will transform their lives and bring about development than lack of education. They should be told that there is no age limit to education and learning process is a lifelong thing. Women empowerment through formal education should be encouraged. Secondly, citizens should be equipped with all the information on the practical needs of their society starting with family cherished values such as honesty, truthfulness, hard work, respect for elders, to public values like probity, good leadership and followership, order, avoiding corrupt practices, examination malpractices, child abuse and child labour.

Citizenship education will stimulate creativity, good judgment, fair play, etc. It will help to remove ethnic fear, favouritism, prejudice and conflict among Nigerians.

 

6) Compulsory School Attendance Laws: Legislation or laws should be made and enforced on school attendance by the national, state and local government law makers. The laws made by these bodies and existing laws should be enforced so that those who will attempt to sabotage the fight against illiteracy will be arrested and adequately punished.

 

7) Removing Hostile School Environment: School environment should be free from any form of hostile behaviour either from the teachers or students or from parents and the neighbourhood. Students cultists and all those things that stimulate it should be identified and gain adequate and prompt attention.

 

8) Employment Opportunities for all the Products of Education: Employment opportunities should be made available for the products of education. The economy should be diversified to accommodate the school leavers at different levels to help motivate those who received the education and make those who are still illiterate to accept literacy and come forward to enroll.

Unemployment among those willing and able to work discourages the students from being painstaking and makes them remain passive in teaching and learning, hence no change in behaviour at the end of the programmes.

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