50% Of Enugu Pupils Can’t Read English, Solve Simple Maths — SSG

Fifty per cent of Enugu State primary school pupils “cannot read a single word in English.”

Prof Chidiebere Onyia, the Secretary to the State Government, stated this in a keynote address entitled, “Smart Basic Education and the Future of Africa”, which he delivered at a quadrennial convention organised by the Union Secondary School, Awkunanaw, Enugu Old Boys Association (UNISSOBA). The event held in Enugu.

Onyia said the administration of Governor Peter Mbah had taken some steps at reforming the education system to meet the much needed changing global demands.

He said, “We recently conducted a Baseline Assessment of our primary schools in Enugu State in November 2023. Our findings were shocking. After four years of primary schooling, 50% of our children cannot read a single word in English. Those who can read struggle with comprehension.

“After six years of primary schooling, 50 per cent of our children cannot solve simple subtraction challenges. What we found out in Enugu State is large across our nation. In Nigeria, three out of four children who complete basic education lack numeracy and literacy proficiency. The World Bank, UNICEF, and UNESCO have defined this as ‘the Nigerian Learning Crisis.

“On top of this, our children suffer a ‘Skills Gap’ because existing modes of rote teaching do not equip children with scientific, technological, productive, and digital competences.”

Onyia said with the introduction of the smart school model across the 260 electoral wards in the state, which has new facilities such as the centre for artificial intelligence, interactive smart boards, centre for robotics, among others, the state is set to lead in the fourth industrial revolution, adding that the academic curricula would now emphasize experiential learning methods, problem-solving and case studies.

In his words, “The objective is to build the human capital of Enugu State, which will enable us to increase our GDP from $4.4bn to $30bn per annum and achieve zero poverty headcount over the next four-eight years.

“This revolution begins with the establishment Smart Green Schools, one in each of the 260 wards within the state. Each Smart Green School is equipped with an internet system, a robotics and artificial intelligence centre, a modern ICT centre, two science laboratories, a hybrid multimedia library, a technology laboratory, a creative production studio, 25 inclusive classrooms with digital white boards, and 700 android tablets.”