Literacy: A way forward for the girl-child.
Literacy is said to have it origins about 8ooo years before the birth of Christ with Egypt and China serving as cluster points of early civilization. According to the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), ” Literacy is a fundamental human right and the foundation for lifelong learning. It is fully essential to social and human development in its ability to transform lives. For individual, families, and societies alike, it is an instrument of empowerment to improve one’s health, one’s income, and one’s relationship with the world. The implication of this statement is that literacy is empowering.
Society has witnessed evolution in literacy from the period when the early men made inscriptions on walls of caves and tablets, to the discovery of the papyrus paper in Egypt which made literacy easier and convenient, and to the present-day use of tablets, and phones. In the same vein, there has been progress in the fight for equality when it comes to education. In the middles ages, the idea of literacy among women was frowned upon, and formal education amongst women was not encouraged, but the 20th century witnessed the declaration of literacy as a human right and its subsequent encouragement in different countries.
 In a world bedevilled by conflicts, inequalities, poor governance, the girl-child has been relegated to the bottom of the ladder, while her neglect creates a ripple effect in the fabric of society. The gender disparity is evident in Sub-Saharan Africa where the literacy rate is lowest and the gender gap is wide; according to UNESCO, 52% of adult females are literate compared to 68% of male adults. UNESCO also highlights the fact that no country in Sub-Saharan Africa has achieved gender parity in primary and secondary education, with 16.7 million out of school girls in the region.
In June 2017, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education in Nigeria, Adamu Hussaini admitted that Nigeria had 10.5 million out-of-school children, the largest in the world with the girl-child accounting for a greater portion of this number or figure
Due to the low standard of living and poverty in the country, the out-of-school girl child is saddled with the responsibility of contributing to the sustenance of her family by hawking on the streets, manual labour, and petty businesses. This cycle of inequality continues and her chances of breaking even are hampered because of the background she was born into.
Going by our definition, literacy is empowering. A literate society is a progressive society, and empowering the girl-child will have positive effects on the development of society.
To combat illiteracy in the country, and reduce the number of illiterate girl-child, we suggest that a system be put in place to take the “book to the child” using e-readers.
E-readers are electronic devices with pre-loaded books. They are also called E-book readers, and can seamlessly connect to the Internet with low data consumption.
The benefits of e-readers are its portability, long battery life, access to thousands of books and eco-friendliness.
Since the underserved girl-child cannot go to school or stay for long in school because of family obligations, then the school will be brought to her, wherever she is! With access to weekly books using e-readers, the girl-child will be open to a world of possibilities, and the disparity will be further reduced. The availability, and portability of the e-readers to the girl-child will encourage her to learn and be technologically incline. This can then be incorporated into the learning structure of private and public schools thereby increasing the reach. Sustaining this will be the combined effort of the girl-child, the instructors, the schools, and the local authorities.
Our society is witnessing rapid technological development, and the need to be a part of this will serve the dual purpose of reducing the number of out-of-school children as well as the literacy disparity.
WOFAN and Kasher are collaborating on this novel idea in Northern Nigeria.
