Lagos — Shortly after Nigeria recently hosted a meeting of the E-9 countries - Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan - considered to be the among the world's most educationally challenged nations, the Minister of Education, Professor Ruqayyatu Rufa'i, announced that she was optimistic that the level of illiteracy in Nigeria could be halved by 2015, in accordance with the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation's target.
Acknowledging the serious challenges lying ahead of the plan, she said the government was "going to launch a programme that will be multi-dimensional; that will be a collaborative effort among all the stakeholders." The goal appears daunting. According to Prof. Rufa'i, "We are trying to target [the] 40 million illiterates that we have in the country, taking about 10 million per annum, and then make a plan of about four years that will address this issue." In other words, the four-year plan will target 40 million illiterate Nigerians with a projected 50 percent success rate, leading to a reduction of the illiterate population by 20 million over the period.
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