Former Minister of Education, Obiageli Ezekwesili, has maintained that the key to solving the nation’s economic problems lies in achieving higher productivity and competitiveness for Nigerians.
Ezekwesili hinted that the country desperately needs to expand opportunities for quality education.
She said this would “start with urgently fixing the deep crisis of poor Foundational Literacy and Numeracy learning outcomes for children in early grades before the age of 10.”
In a statement via her verified Twitter handle on Friday, the former Minister noted that “the role of the government and good governance in achieving intentional response to poor literacy and numeracy skill is unarguably the biggest hurdle to confront”.
She wrote, “Our foremost economic problems of tackling Poverty and Inequality have everything to do with achieving higher Productivity and Competitiveness of our people.
“We desperately need to expand the same opportunities to quality education that the SBS students had to their peers in Nigeria and rest of Africa.
“What many still don’t realize is that it is for our continent, this will start with urgently fixing the deep crisis of poor Foundational Literacy and Numeracy learning outcomes for children in early grades before the age of 10.
“The data is dismal.
“According to the latest State of Global Education Update, nearly 9 in 10 children in Sub-Saharan Africa are unable to read and understand a simple text by the age of 10. Globally, 70% can’t perform this task – up from 57% before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The role of Government and Good Governance in achieving intentional response to poor literacy and numeracy skill is unarguably the biggest hurdle to confront.
“Citizens have yet another reason to stay engaged until Nigeria and other countries of Africa achieve Democracy that delivers effective Governments and Good Governance.”
