By Yusuf Adua
On the 26th October 1966 at the 14th session of UNESCO’s General Conference, the International Literacy Day was declared and its observance and celebration was slated for every 8th day in the month of September with today marking another.
Therefore, it is binding on every concerned Nigerian to reflect on why the staple part of Nigerian youths are losing interest in literacy; the ability to read and write whilst we consider the hazards of the COVID-19 crisis which disrupted the learning of children, young people, and adults at an unconventional scale and at a time that their interest in formal schooling is on a decline.
But one thing comes to mind even before the pandemic, there is a pre-existing apothegm amongst some people within schooling age in Nigeria: International Literacy Day: How Nigerian Government can prove to us that Formal education is not a Scam
This piece is not to chide government at all levels’ inadequacies but to push them to harmonize national response plans that will “legitimize the scam in education and literacy”.
Though there is a key difference between education or formal schooling and literacy, one cannot be literate without going through whatever form of education meaning that literacy is basically the ability to read and write, a key factor that helps to measure the education level while education refers to the acquisition of knowledge. This is a perfect time to put the aphorism further forward; IS THE ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE A SCAM? NO! only brain-dead folk will say otherwise.
In a recent survey carried out by News Live Nigeria, 51% of the youths between the ages of 18 to 35 attested to believing that schooling is a scam, 17.34% said they were accustomed to using the byword though not practically believed. Only 7.39% of our respondents found the scam side of education novel. Why this statistics? this is to intimate the government on the urgent implementation of the measures rehearsing to come after now.
As it looks juicy to be at the National Assembly, the Government should devise means to make the prospect of becoming a Nigerian graduate enticing too. We have heard reactions from lawmakers that the financial reward is not colossal as the media portray, we demand that every Nigerian graduate be treated like a serving senator from any senatorial district in the country, or simply put; the Nigerian graduates should make up the 110th senator.
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC)scheme is a pathway to national unity in diversity but to make education less scam-like an urgent reformation of the programme is vital. The outdated nature of all the modalities of the scheme justifies the surreal thoughts of those who feel that education is not worth the pain and pressure. It is a known fact that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government has unflinching commitment to sustain the programme, the relevance of the programme can only be upheld if the monthly allowance of each corps member is significantly raised.
Also, the leadership of the Giant of Africa, the Federal Republic of Nigeria should find a way to leverage the psychological meltdown of unemployed graduates to cope with the dragging economy after graduation. the initiative to begin a paid post-NYSC work placement programme for Nigerians by the present administration is a commendable feat but the more the merrier.
It is only in Nigeria that schooling is seen as a scam considering the hunger of Nigerians to feed their educational appetite abroad; government at all levels have to go back to the drawing board and renege our educational models, provide enabling environment and the tone for passion and push for excellence.
Finally, the government being the custodian of lecturers and students need to find ways to re-orientate all educators, resource persons, and facilitators at all levels of education. The fact that the world has swiftly moved from the typewriter age to where it is today necessitates a new modus vivendi.