CITAD rates North-east adult literacy rate low

Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) said the North-east region has the least adult literacy rate with all states having lower than the national average rate.
The NGO made this disclosure when it led a team, North-east Social Accountability in Education Cluster, a project supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on advocacy visit to the Bauchi State House of Assembly Committee on Education.
The leader of the team, Isah Garba, told the committee that the region had the worst education statistics, adding that Yobe and Borno states “have the lowest with 31.9 per cent and 35.1 per cent” male adult literacy rates, respectively.
“The corresponding figures for female adult literacy rate stands at 14.9 and 18.0 per cents, respectively, for the two states.
The performance of the states in both NECO and WAEC had been the lowest in the country,” Garba said.
He further added that: “A survey showed that the percentage of children between six and 16 years, who have never attended school has high prevalence in the following in Borno having 72 per cent, Yobe 58 per cent and Bauchi 52 per cent.
Only 20 per cent of all school age girls get to attend school,” he noted.
The NGO, therefore, recommended that the state increase its budgetary allocation to the education sector to 26 per cent to meet UNESCO’s recommendation in 2019, advising that the House of Assembly should ensure proper monitoring of disbursement of funds for efficient and effective utilisation.
Responding, the Chairman, House Committee on Education, Hon.
Yusuf Inuwa Dadiye, commended the organisation for its efforts, saying they had helped towards the development of education in the state.
He promised that the House Committee on Education would ponder on the recommendations as soon as possible.