Ogun govt grants autonomy to adult, non-formal education sector
By Ayo Fadimu
The Ogun State government said it has commenced process on the enactment of a bill on autonomy of the State’s Agency for Mass Education and composition of its statutory board, tagged “Autonomy To Adult/Non-Formal Education Sector,” in the State.
The Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu made this known at a-day workshop organized by the Agency for Adult Mass Education for adults and non-formal education supervisors and facilitators in the State.
He said with the theme of the workshop “Adult and Non-formal Education as a Catalyst for Sustainable Development in Nigeria: The Roles of Adult Educators and Changing Andragogy,” noted that it is imperative to educate adults in the modern world.
Arigbabu said that government is poised to ensure manpower development in all areas, noting that the training was organized to sharpen skills and update the knowledge of participants with new trend of discharging their responsibilities for optimal performance.
He hailed the present administration for regular payment of honourarium for adult personnel, revealing that the sector is a key area that demands utmost attention in the transformation and inclusiveness approaches that would ensure all citizens have the ability to read and write.
“Let me assure you that the present administration is not unmindful of the importance of developing the Non-formal educaton sector, hence, his unwavering desire to uplift the present status quo of adult and non-formal education service delivery in the State,” Arigbabu said
In his welcome address, the Director of the Agency for Mass Education (AME), Mr. Adebola Lawal stressed the need for training programme to address the quest for sustainable national development in the educational sector in the country.
He said that the training become imperative, especially for the current social vices bedeviling the entire nation, ranging from high rate of illiteracy, insecurity, kidnapping, economic downturn, raping and many more.
Lawal said the worship was to ruminate on the present status quo of the adult education service delivery to the teeming population of illiterate adults, early school leavers and out of school children in the society amongst others.
In his goodwill message and Lecture, the Southwest Coordinator, National Commission for Mass Literacy, Mrs. Kuburat Lawal and Dr. Elizabeth Adewuyi posited that the workshop would accrue the participants opportunity to strengthen their skills and also to acquaint them with new andragogical techniques in the post COVID-19 era, as a means of improving their performances and functions.
