\nThe Education Secretariat, Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) says it is aligning skills acquisition with formal and nonformal education in its mass literacy programme.
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\nThe acting Secretary of the secretariat, Malam Abdulrazaq Leramoh, stated this at a press conference to mark the 2023 International Literacy Day (ILD).
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\nThe theme of the day is, \u201cPromoting Literacy for a World in transition: Building the Foundation for Sustainable and Peaceful Societies\u201d.
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\nLeramoh pointed out that certificates alone cannot provide food on the table, particularly with growing unemployment in the country.
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\nHe also noted the growing number of graduates out there without formal skill, making it difficult to address unemployment.
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\n\u201cWe are developing a policy to ensure that as we are empowering those in informal education with the opportunity to acquire skills through our various vocational centres.
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\n\u201cWe are still introducing vocational study in the form of entrepreneurship education so that by the time some of the children come out of schools, they are coming out with skills that they can work with,\u201d he said.
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\nHe added that the FCT has a very robust platform for both formal and nonformal education, including literacy and skills acquisition centres across the six Area council.
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\n\u201cLiteracy initiatives in the FCT include adult education programs, community-based literacy centers and literacy for out of school children and youth, and digital literacy.
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\n\u201cOthers are financial literacy, skill acquisition programmes, women education, nomadic adult literacy and continuing education programmes,\u201d he said.
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\nHe explained that the ILD was being commemorated on Sept. 9 of every year to create awareness on the significance of education for all.
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\nHe added that the celebration was also to strengthen existing structures to promote education to solve societal needs as well as produce a skilled workforce for a sustainable economy.
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\nHe said that a literate person was expected to attain reading, writing, and numeric abilities to make it possible for him to continue to remain functional.
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\nThis, he said, would enable a person to contribute significantly towards his development and that of his country.
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\nAlso, Dr Sani Ladan, Director, Secondary Education Board, also said that the secretariat was working to ensure that no child leaves the school without a skill through entrepreneurship education.
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\n\u201cWe are exposing the school children away from reading and cramming to critical, innovative, and creative thinking.
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\n\u201cWe are given assignments on providing innovative solutions to environmental challenges and other societal problems. This will enable them to be self-reliant and contribute to nation building and development,\u201d Ladan said.
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\nGroup photograph of government officials at the press conference to commemorate 2023 International Literacy Day
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\nAlso, Mrs Hajarat Titilayo-Alayande, Director, Department of Mass Education, said that the FCT adult education programme currently has an enrolment of more than 15,000 people.
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\nTitilayo-Alayande added that the department has four functional Information and Communication Technology centres and 34 women centres.
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\nShe added that the department\u2019s second chance education programme for out of school children, particularly girls, was being funded by a Non-Governmental Association for Literacy Support Services (NOGALSS).
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\nShe said that a total of 1,000 girls would be trained under the programme in FCT, adding that 50 of the girls would be trained on vocational skills.
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\nThe director also said that the department equally provides free skill acquisition training, adding that 1,400 persons were being trained on different skills every quarter.
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\nOn his part, the National President, NOGALSS, Mr Noah Emmanuel, said that the association was working with all the state agencies for mass education in the country on provision of livelihood skills.
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\nHe appealed to the FCTA to strengthen the autonomy of the department of mass education by returning it to its formal status of an agency.
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\n\u201cThis will enable it to respond better to the dynamics of literacy,\u201d he said. (NAN)
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\nSource: News Agency of Nigeria
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The Education Secretariat, Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) says it is aligning skills acquisition with formal and nonformal education in its mass literacy programme.<\/p>\n
The acting Secretary of the secretariat, Malam Abdulrazaq Leramoh, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n