The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has endorsed Kano state to be the nerve centre of revitalising mass education for the North, after assessing the numerous contributions the state was making towards mass literacy campaign and programmes.
Executive Secretary of the Kano State Agency for Mass Education, Prof. Fatima Umar, disclosed this in an interactive session with newsmen in Kano.
He said: “As a result of our aggressive public enlightenment campaigns and the impact we are able to make in mass literacy UNESCO, Dakar Regional Office, came to us and we had fruitful discussions with them. They were able to tour some of our centres and assess the work on ground.
“You could remember clearly when His Excellency, Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, flagged-off the mass literacy campaign in 2012, to counter the many challenges the state was facing in that direction.”
Umar said the Kwankwaso administration was determined to give literacy capacity to illiterate ones.
“Twelve million people are targeted to be given the literate capacity within three years.”
To achieve that, she said government trained 16,148 as trainers, last year, adding that the same numbers of trainers were also trained, this year.
She projected that going by the rate the programme, Kano could be able to get about 95 per cent level of literacy by 2015.
“For your information the programme is free of charge; and the bulk of the work is shouldered on the local government. You may be aware that the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria places the responsibility of basic education on the local government across the nation. At the state level we are also doing our part.”
