An educationist and former Delta State commissioner for education, Dr. (Mrs.) Veronica Ogbuagu, has said that 80 per cent of Nigerian public primary school pupils and secondary school students are poor readers, who have problems comprehending what they read.
Ogbuagu, who spoke during the distribution of free text books to pupils and students in Oyede community, Isoko North Local Government Area of Delta State, by a non-governmental organisation, Every Child Counts Initiative for Education, said that the problem was due to poor educational foundation.
“We are in this mess today as a result of the following reasons: majority of adults in Nigeria are non-reading adults. So, there is no example of reading habit to learn from. Secondly, almost all our children in the public primary schools, do not have the recommended textbooks nor writing materials.
“Most parents do not see the need to buy textbooks for their children; they probably are ignorant of the importance of textbooks, or have come to believe that education is free; therefore, the Government is supposed to provide all learning materials for school children. Let me advise parents, free and compulsory education does not and cannot mean free textbooks.
“A third reason why primary school pupils reading skills is rated below 40%, is the use of effective teaching methods by many teachers, she said. Ogbuagu, who is also the initiator and founder of ECCIE, said that the campaign for donation of books from Books for Africa, USA, and the campaign on books donation was designed to acquire books free of charge from their donors and distribute them to schools free of charge.
She said in the past 20 years there had been several complaints about the decline in the standard of education in Nigeria due to lack of the four skills used in the development of language and literacy.
“The four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing are very important. When the first three are impaired, the last, which is writing, automatically becomes a bunch of rubbish. Today, we know that reading as part of learning in schools in a dead culture,” said added.
Speaking further, she said, “We are a Non-profit, Non-governmental organization that is committed to the course of children, youths and women. We teach young people life skills. We promote good health and quality education.
We believe that every child must be educated to enable him to realise his potential and contribute meaningfully to the development of the society.” “As a teacher and the initiator and founder of and NGO, Every Child Count Initiative for Education (ECCIFED), I decided to campaign for the donation of books from Books For Africa, USA.
The campaign for books donation is designed to acquire books free of charge from our donors and distribute them to schools free of charge. We are determined to end book famine in Nigeria,” Ogbuagu said.
She also blamed the poor reading culture in the country on the lack of interest by adults in reading, lack of recommended text books or writing materials and lack of effective teaching methods by many teachers.
“The Nigerian child of today and for many years to come, need to have a good command of the English language to be able to function well in his country and communicate effectively with people in countries all over the world. Good reading skills help learners in performing well in all other subjects on the curriculum,” she noted.
She thanked the sponsor of the ceremony, Surveyor Peter Akarogbe who is also the President of Oyede Development Union, and the people of the Oyede community for the love and concern they have for children.
