Pulse.ng : Sustainable dev't can't be achieved without learning

By Sani Idris

The Commissioner for Education in Kaduna state, Prof. Muhammad Bello, has said that sustainable development can not be achieved in any society without learning.

Bello said this while giving a keynote address titled "Importance of literacy in building peaceful societies", on occasion of celebrating the 2024 International Literacy Day with primary school pupils on Thursday in Kaduna.

The pupils were drawn from various public schools in Kaduna North and South LGA of the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the occasion was organised by the Kaduna State Universal Basic Education Board (KADSUBEB) in collaboration with Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria (PLANE).

Their theme for their celebration is "Promoting literacy for a world in transition: building the foundation for sustainable and peaceful societies".

Bello, represented by the Director Public Schools, Mukhtar Maude, noted that having a literate population enable people to share ideas, preserve information and explore different ways of life.

He emphasised that literacy improve lives by expanding capabilities which in turn reduces poverty, increases participation in labour market and has positive effects on health and social development.

According to the commissioner, learning largely depends on access to text-based information and communication.

He thus said, continuous, independent and lifelong learning is not possible without mastering basic competencies such as literacy and numeracy.

This, he said are necessary to develop other high-demand skills including effective communication, problem solving and critical information analysis.

"Those without a minimum level of literacy proficiency are potentially excluded from a range of opportunities in their lives.

"In addition to being a key component of lifelong learning, literacy is, above all, a fundamental human right,"Bello said.

Speaking further, he said in a context of rapid change which include factors such as population growth, global warming, digitalisation, continuous learning become essential for the survival of people and planet.

"Literacy learning correlates with positive citizenship outcomes,"he said

Also, the Chairman of KADSUBEB, Alhaji Tijjani Abdullahi, highlighted the board's efforts in enrolling out-of-school children back into the education system.

Abdullahi, represented by Dr Jamilu Haruna, Permanent Member School Management, KADSUBEB, said the KADSUBEB's collaboration with PLANE is instrumental in promoting literacy and ensuring that every child in Kaduna State has access to quality education.

"Through our initiatives, we have made significant strides in reducing the number of out-of-school children in Kaduna State.

He restated their commitment towards working tirelessly to ensure that every child has the opportunity to acquire the basic competencies of literacy and numeracy, and to develop the skills necessary to succeed in life.

On her part, Diana Agabi, the State Team Lead of PLANE, said the International Literacy Day would fall on September 8, being a Sunday, which was why they had their own celebration earliar.

According to her, once a child could read, write and comprehend, he or she can pass any form of examination.

She explained that PLANE's aims to support learners from primary one to six to be able to read and write, emphasising that doing so would reduce the tendency of droping out of school.

Doing so, Agabi said the child would always look up to what he/she wants to achieve at the end.

She equally said they were marking the day as a booster to encourage learners to know how to read not in English alone, but in the language of the immediate environment or mother tongue.

"If you go outside Nigerian, they encourage you to learn how to speak their language first so as to communicate more effectively with them. This is something that we should portray so as we don't loose history and at the same time promote english and mother tongue in communication,"she said.

NAN reports that high points of the event was poems/rhyme presentation, story telling and reading/spelling competition in both English and Hausa by the learners, where awards were presented to the winners.(NAN)