By Dipo Olowookere
The Lagos State Government through the Agency for Mass Education on Friday announced plans to commence training of 1000 facilitators for the State’s adult literacy programme christened Eko Nke Koo (Lagos is Learning).
Special Adviser to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode on Education, Mr Obafela Bank-Olemoh, in a statement, said the training, which is the first of its series, is aimed at equipping facilitators with the necessary skills required to train adults, adding that the first batch of the training will commence from January 10 and run to January 11, 2017.
The Eko Nke Nkoo (Lagos is Learning) project was launched in 2016 as part of the commitment of Governor Ambode’s administration to increase the State’s literacy level from 87 percent to 95 percent by the year 2019.
According to Mr Bank-Olemoh, the first batch of two hundred and fifty (250) new facilitators will be trained in January and another set of 250 in February, while the remaining 500 would be trained in March.
While alluding to the decision of government to train the facilitators, Mr Bank-Olemoh said training and capacity development remained a very integral part of the programme, assuring that government was committed to the success of the initiative.
He said to achieve the set goals of increasing access for adult learners and growing the retention rates, the State Government initiated partnerships with religious organizations as well as NGOs, market and mechanic associations, and private sector partners all in a bid to scale up the number of literacy centres across the State from the current 532 centres to 1000 in 2017.
Already, the Special Adviser disclosed that identified organizations have expressed commitment to join hands with the State by providing spaces in markets, mechanic villages and religious centres for the tutelage of adult learners.
Mr Bank-Olemoh, who disclosed that the centres would double as learning centres for the literacy program and vocational centres for adults seeking to acquire marketable skills for greater functionality, said participating associations have also promised to encourage their members to enrol in the programme.
Giving further details, Mr Bank-Olemoh said: “The upcoming training is a 2-day intensive training which will focus on topics including: Understanding adult learners; qualities and roles of a good literacy facilitator; enhancing adult’s motivation to learn; and literacy teaching methods, techniques and approaches among others. Upon completion of the training, the trainees will join the existing 486 facilitators already in the system.
“This training will be the first of its series aimed at equipping the literacy facilitators that will be deployed to the centres. The trainees will gain the necessary knowledge and skill to help us reach our goal of increasing the literacy rate across the state,” he said.
