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The Commission has, over the years, adopted several approaches in its endeavour to actualise this mandate. One of such approaches is the Literacy by Radio Programme, a Cuban approach, which was pilot tested in 12 states in Nigeria and launched in 2006 in Minna, the Niger State capital and later scaled up to the 36 states in Nigeria. Since then, the programme, though marred by inadequate funding, proved to be a veritable tool for the eradication of illiteracy-(P&G Project Document).

To stress the priority given to literacy, the Federal Government initiated in 2011 the Revitalizing Adult and Youth Literacy in Nigeria (RAYL) project and committed some substantial fund to it with the expectation that additional funding could be mobilized from partners and the private sector. The Procter and Gamble Nigeria project therefore is responding to Government’s expectation and commitment to assist in addressing the literacy challenge in the country. Procter and Gamble, simply called P&G, a company that produces domestic (household) products like Dettols, tissue papers and always sanitary pads etc. has indicated interest to partner with UNESCO and NMEC in using the ICT, especially the Television and the Mobile Phone in literacy delivery with a focus on young women and girls. The P&G programme is currently being pilot tested in Rivers State and the FCT.

 

Objectives

According to the P&G project document, the goal is to:

  • Increase literacy rates among girls and women to accelerate and underpin the national efforts to achieve the EFA goals, in particular EFA goal 3 on ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life skill programmes, goal 4 on achieving a 50 % improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults and goal 5 on eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education and achieving gender equality in education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls’ full and equal access to and achievement in basic education of good quality; and , MDGs 2 on achieving universal primary education and MDG 3 on promoting gender equality and empowering women, and ultimately contribute to the achievement of the national development goals of empowerment of people, wealth creation and economic growth.
  • Empower 60,000 girls and women who are illiterate, school dropout and those at the risk of dropping out of school;
  • Train 852 personnel to produce and deliver lessons by radio, television, mobile applications and face to face;
  • Revise/develop quality gender responsive training modules including literacy and life skills.
  • Revise existing curriculum for effective teaching and learning.
  • Utilize existing and develop new partnerships and networks of governmental, NGOs, CBOs, CSOs and private sector for effective quality delivery.

 

Expected results

  • Capacity of 60,000 illiterate or semi-literate girls and women in FCT and Rivers State to read, write, calculate and acquire basic social, life and vocational skills developed and improved;
  • Capacity of 852 personnel to deliver literacy classes using ICTs such as Radio, Television, mobile applications developed;
  • Literacy program delivery improved through the use of ICTs, (Radio, TV and Mobile applications) in the two target States of FCT and Rivers;
  • Teaching and learning materials reviewed and improved through the use of ICTs; instructional CD-Rom developed, radio and TV equipment procured;
  • Effective partnerships and network developed with NGOs/CSOs, cellular, radio and TV operators achieved for effective quality literacy delivery.

 

Beneficiaries

The ultimate beneficiaries of the P&G Project are young girls and women of 13 to 45 years who cannot read or write because they did not attend school or dropped out of school so early that they have not acquired the basic literacy skills and those in semi- urban low performing junior secondary schools but are at the risk of dropping out. Using Radio, Television and Mobile phone applications, the project will aim to reach all illiterate women and girls in the two states-Rivers state and the FCT. For the face to face contact however, the project will target 60,000 girls and women over the three years of the project-November 2013 –November 2016.

 

Project Component:

  • Advocacy, Communication and Community Mobilization
  • Strengthening the capacity of 852 facilitators, Radio and TV producers, script writers to develop Radio and TV lessons, produce and deliver quality literacy programmes.
  • Material Development, Radio and TV lessons production, printing, broadcasting and Mobile applications.
  • Enrolment of 60,000 girls and women in NFE Literacy classes.
  • Project management, Monitoring and Evaluation.

 

Achievements

  • Meeting the partners at a preparatory technical meeting in December 2013.
  • Advocacy to Mobile Communication Operators.
  • Project launch – Inauguration of PAC (provides overall direction and guidance for the project; endorse project annual workplans and budget, receive and discuss annual/periodic project reports from the project management team before submission to the Regional Director and advise the Regional Director on pace of implementation).
  • Development of a-One Year detailed Action Plan.
  • Study visit to understudy a project of similar nature in Dakar, Senegal.
  • Advocacy visits to the Commissioner of Education, RSMoE and Secretary; Education, FCT Education Secretariat.
  • Mapping of LGAs, Area Councils, Centres, number of classrooms for the Project; and learners (Rivers East: PH and Ikwerre; Rivers West: Ahoada and Asari Toru; Rivers South-East: Andoni and Tai).
  • Institutionalization of governance arrangements (National P&G M&E Committee and State Project Implementation Task teams).
  • Visit to some learning centres to inspect facilities on ground.
  • Selection, Review and Development of new training materials.
  • Trained 600 NFE facilitators in Rivers and FCT.
  • Trained 200 UBE Teachers in Rivers and FCT
  • Partnership has been established between P&G Programme and the Media (Television Practitioners and Mobile Phone Operators).
  • Literacy by Radio Consultants interacted with Media Practitioners from Rivers state and the FCT on how to incorporate the components of literacy by radio contents into television and mobile phones for literacy delivery.
  • P&G programme has been harmonised such that when it eventually takes off, lessons aired on radio, television and through the mobile phones shall bear the same content.
  • Templates for Television and Mobile Phone lessons and the Work Plan have been developed for the P&G Programme.

 

Conclusion

The fight against illiteracy is a fight for all and all hands must be on deck. Presently, 62% of Nigerians are literate and a total of 38% are still illiterate and sadly enough, out of the World’s 70million Out of School Children, 10.5% is found in Nigeria which means that a lot of work is still needed to be done.