Functional Literacy For Empowerment: Perspectives And Issues

ABSTRACT

To many people, literacy appears to be an issue among adults or adult learners,

but little do they realise that many of the adolescents in schools and out of schools are

also infested with the virus called illiteracy, whereas they very first objective of primary

education as stipulated in the National Educatio~Pl olicy is literacy in the 3Rs. It is very

sad to report here that in spite of the persistent efforts made by the Federal Govenmlent

to educate all by the year 2000, through the Universal Primary Education (UPE), 1976,

6-3-3-4, Mass Literacy Campaigns, Universal Basic' Education .(UBE) and other,

Obemeater (1995) has described the education sector of the nation as an unprofitable

: industry. Also in a recent study by Folarnami (1998) it was found out that majority of

students in the public secondary schools in Oyo state cannot read and write English

, , Language prdficiently which happens to be the linguafr.nnca in Nigeria. As a matter of

fact, Sullivan and Howe (199) corroborates this finding with staggering statistics that

' between 15% and 30% of all school children have significant problems of learning to

read and ~nosot f them come from low-incomes families.

Be that as it may, many of these young people in spite of their predicament in

the school, are also saddled with the responsibility of augmenting their parents incoine

through hawking of wares and goods after school hours. Some go to market places and

busy streets, others just hawk around the nook and crannies in their neighbourhood

while soine sit at particular sports to sell their goods. Hawking is a common problem

all over the world as Carlisle (1999) observes that transport corporations in London are

using the courts to rid the stations of illegal hawkers. These children engage in the

business of hawking because they are poor and they need to make ends meet. Sullivan

Howe (1999) asserts that children living in poverty who have reading problems are at

high risk for school failure, dropping out of school early and for low literacy sd