By Our Reporter
The adult literacy program has steadily gained momentum in Northern Kenya to become among the most vibrant adopters of Adult and Continuing Education in the country.
During the national celebrations to observe the International Literacy Day (ILD) held in Mandera County, Garissa county emerged the county in North Eastern with the highest enrollment of 5380 learners. It was followed by Mandera and Wajir counties with 3377 and 2232 adult learners respectively.
Speaking during the event, Mr. Elyas Abdi, the Director General in the Ministry of Education (MOE) said that the positive trends in the uptake of literacy programs among pastoral communities is the result of multi-stakeholder efforts to stamp out illiteracy in the region.
He observed that there is still work to be done to ensure that the learners transit to the next levels of education.
“Despite the efforts made in enhancing access to education, there is still need for a holistic approach by key stakeholders to meet the learning needs of different people in different contexts,” he added.
Under the theme, “Transforming Literacy Learning Spaces” the annual event observed among UNESCO member states seeks to enrich multiple spaces such as home, community centers where learning can take place to make them learner friendly.
In Mandera County, Mandera East Sub-County was awarded the highest enrolment category with 743 learners while Mandera Central and Mandera West won the highest registered KCPE candidates and Community Learning and Resource Centre with the best adult education program categories respectively.
Mr. Abdi said that high literacy skills have enabled individuals to contribute significantly to the community and national development.
Mandera GK prisons had the most number of integrated Adult and Continuing Education programmes in the county.
The centre offers literacy classes, farming and carpentry courses to 302 adult learners.
Nationally, Nairobi won the highest enrolment category with 14,707 learners while Tana River registered the highest enrolment in primary Continuing Education.
According to the Kenya Population and Housing Census report 2019, about one million people aged 14 and above in North Eastern are illiterate. Out of that 314,153 people living in Mandera County lack basic literacy and numeracy skills.
“The government is determined to enhance enrolment in literacy programs to ensure all its citizens can effectively participate in socio-economic and cultural development that is devoid of inequalities and discrimination”, said Mr. Abdi.
