An Assessment Of The Impact Of Adult Literacy Programmes In Gumbi District Of Wamakko Local Government Area. Sokoto State, Nigeria.
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An Assessment Of The Impact Of Adult Literacy Programmes In Gumbi District Of Wamakko Local Government Area. Sokoto State, Nigeria.
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of previous adult literacy courses on the educational attainment of indigenes from the ten (10) villages of Gumbi District in Sokoto State’s Wamakko Local Government Area. Three populations were selected.
The first population was 361 educated people from the 10 villages; the second was 425 ex-literacy program participants; and the third was 57 officials/community leaders. Three instruments were employed for data collecting. These included two self-designed quizzes and a survey form.
The data was analysed with simple percentages. The study’s main finding was that grandparents and parents who participated in adult literacy development initiatives improved the educational attainment of their grandchildren and children. It was suggested that stakeholders ensure that as many indigenes of the area as possible achieve the highest degree of literacy.
Chapter One:
Introduction
1.1 Background of the Study
The prevalent belief that adult literacy is a cure-all for human development has been supported in a number of cases. The quick economic development observed following the 1930s economic downturn and the tremendous destruction produced by the Second World War after 1945 in North America and Western Europe, respectively, has been determined to be mostly due to human resource input rather than any other reason.
Prior to World War II, it was thought that the rapid rise of several Western European nations was solely due to physical resources (capital). However, the postwar experience of Europe’s war-ravaged nations, as well as their rapid recovery, revealed that other factors than capital could have accelerated the recovery.
Investigations revealed that the availability of human skills accounted for the variation in economic growth, and that the labour force required proper training in order to contribute successfully to rapid growth.
The revelation sparked the “human capital revolution” and the recommendation to newly independent countries to invest a significant portion of their resources in citizen education if they are to prosper swiftly after gaining independence.
The Baha’i movement, a non-sectarian spiritual movement, has successfully promoted literacy in both developed and developing countries, including Bolivia, Cambodia, Chad, Chile, Ghana, Guyana, Philippines, Russia, and the USA. They recognise that literacy is essential for individuals and society to achieve high levels of abstract thought and insight (2). Literacy enables intellectual and social development.
It is also a source of life for humanity’s acquired knowledge, as well as a foundation for all forms of invention, creativity, and social and economic development. It is critical to collective human development because not only people who are unable to read and write are denied the opportunity to develop, but society as a whole is robbed of the potential contributions that individuals can make for the benefit of all.
Even while historians agree that Islam and literacy growth reached Hausa country as early as the 15th century, documented accounts of literacy development in the area under investigation are scarce. For this reason, oral accounts from persons who should have knowledge of the area were adopted:
The first oral account of literacy development in the area sought by the researcher came from Mallam Ahmadu Maishanu, an elderly ex-adult literacy instructor who claimed to be eighty (80) years old (he died in November 2010) and gave an account that agreed with what is written in the books that the colonial masters took the issue of literacy seriously around 1945 after WWII.
The following is an English translation of the Hausa narration: “Our first elementary school was established around 1945, but it only lasted about five or six years.” Mallam Abdullahi Maiyama was the first teacher, followed by Mallam Ibro Gumbi and Mallam Balarabe Sokoto, who eventually became Mallam Abdullahi’s assistant.
When our elementary school opened and classes began, Waziri Abbas (predecessor to Waziri Junaidu) and Sarkin Rafin Gumbi, Umaru Giris (District Head of Gumbi) launched a “Development School” to educate adults.
They arrived with a group of white men, including the D.O. (District Officer), ADO (Assistant District Officer), Mairakuma (Education Officer), and Baturen Gona (Agricultural Officer), all of whom were stationed in Kasarawa at ‘Gandun Bature’ (Agricultural Staff Quarters).
Fourteen adults, largely Kasarawa princes and members of the “Masarauta” (royal class), were enlisted in the development school, which operated on the same grounds as the primary school in the evenings after the elementary school had closed for the day. We were taught by the primary school instructor and Magaji Jibo.
I was about 16 years old and the youngest in my class. Some of the major figures spoke to us in turn, but the one I remember most distinctly was Sarkin Rafi Umaru’s advice: “wannan karatu ku doke shi da muhimmanci saboda ilmul sana’at ne (you should take this programme seriously because it prepares you for a living)”.
The curriculum included writing, reading in Hausa, and some mathematics, and similar schools were created in various villages and towns under the then-Sokoto native government.”
Since 1945, several literacy development projects have been undertaken. The late Premier of the defunct Northern Region, Ahmadu Bello the Sardauna of Sokoto, attempted to emulate his great grandfather’s (Shehu Usman Danfodio) earlier work immediately after independence (early 1960s) by converting Koranic schools owned and run by individual Mallams into Islamiyya schools, providing a large quantity of Arabic literature
And placing existing and newly recruited Mallams on remunerated appointments. These Islamiyya schools were founded throughout the towns and villages of the former Northern Region.
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The establishment of these Islamiyya schools was not an easy task, as it faced numerous challenges from both those who were supposed to benefit from it on the one hand, and non-Muslims on the other, who saw the establishment of these Islamiyya schools as a gradual process of Islamizing the entire region.
According to Liman (Imam) Muhammad Dan-Ruke of Kasarawa village in Wamakko Local Government Area, when Sardauna introduced Islamiyya schools, both teachers and parents were sceptical and hesitant to enrol their children.
The simple fact that teachers will be paid money was interpreted as exposing them to “haram” (a prohibited under Islamic law). To the parents, it was perceived as a ruse to enrol their children in “Makarantar boko” (Western Education Schools), which were at the time considered with great mistrust of instilling western culture in their children, so diverting them from the Islamic way of life.
It was therefore no surprise that after the demise of the Sardauna in 1966, most of the established Islamiyya schools reverted to “Makarantun allo” (indigenous Koranic schools).
Even though the Jama’atul Nasril Islam (JNI), an Islamic body run by a combination of traditional institutions and the government of the day made efforts to revive the Islamiyya schools, the effort was insufficient because both the people and the governments later decided to give more support to the Western system.
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In light of the foregoing observations, the purpose of this study is to examine the impact of adult literacy development activities in the several communities of Gumbi District, Wamakko Local Government Area, Sokoto State.
This will be accomplished by conducting a survey of educated people in the District’s upper strata of educational, social, economic, and political development, and determining whether or not they came from families that had the advantage of early adult literacy acquisition. The views of stakeholders in adult literacy development will also be sought.
1.2 Statement of Problem
The problem with this research arose as a result of a casual and chance observation made in Kasarawa village of the District, which revealed that the majority of the educated people in the village came from families whose heads (grandparents and/or parents) had the advantage of acquiring adult literacy at various times, from pre-independence to early independence and later independence days.
Based on this casual and chance observation, the researcher concluded that it would be beneficial to conduct a thorough examination in the village and the remaining villages to determine whether this casual observation could be established and generalised across all villages.
The problem statement was established to confirm that the bulk of educated individuals in Gumbi District’s ten main villages are offspring of early adult literacy holders.
Early literacy among parents and grandparents has positively impacted the District’s growth, since educated individuals are at the forefront of educational, economic, social, and political development in these villages (6).
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The primary goal of this study was to determine whether or not educational attainment in the ten villages of Gumbi District was influenced by the family background of educated individuals whose families had a history of adult literacy.
This implies that previous adult literacy acquisitions have had an impact on the District’s educational, social, economic, and political life. Additional aims include:
1. Determine the numerical strength of educated people who have acquired tertiary level of education in each village, as well as the proportion of educated people who belong to families with a background in adult literacy vs those who do not. This will allow us to determine whether the parental adult literacy background had an impact on educational attainment.
2. Determine the gender distribution of educated individuals in the various villages and the District as a whole.
3. Determine ex-participants’ perceptions on the impact of literacy development programs in the District.
4. Determine the views of officials and community leaders on the impact of literacy development programs in the District.
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1.4 Research Questions.
The research aims to answer the following questions.
1. What percentage of educated people live in families with adult literacy backgrounds in the District?
2. What percentage of educated people are male and female?
3. What are the ex-participants’ perspectives on the impact of literacy development activities in the District?
4. What are the officials’/community leaders’ perspectives on the effectiveness of literacy development programs in the District?
1.5 Significance of the Study
A research has numerous applications, including sensitising stakeholders to a certain area of human endeavour, pushing the frontier of knowledge or expanding the corpus of knowledge, and so on.
The findings of this study are significant because they raise awareness of how literacy in general, and adult literacy in particular, can aid in the socioeconomic growth of a community or society.
The findings also aim to provide actual evidence of the influence of adult literacy programs on a community or society. It is also hoped that the findings will encourage stakeholders to show greater commitment and invest more resources in adult literacy development. The findings will also serve as a foundation for future research on adult literacy growth in the District.
They will also contribute to literacy education in the District, and by extension, the Local Government Area and the entire State. The findings and recommendations could also be used by governments, traditional and community leaders, educators, people, and other researchers.
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1.6 Scope and Limitations of the Research
It is desirable to investigate the entire state, a group of neighbouring local governments, or at least a single local government region. However, due to funding and time constraints, the research will be limited to the villages of Gumbi District in the Wamakko Local Government Area.
Finally, because evidence from other sources has shown that there is a direct relationship between literacy development and social, economic, and political development, educational development in the District, which may be the result of adult literacy acquisition by the parents/grandparents of the majority of educated people, can be extended to social, economic, and political development in the District.
In other words, educational attainment, gender engagement, and stakeholder opinions will be used as variables to assess the effectiveness of adult literacy development programs in the District.
1.7 Operational Definitions of Terms
It is vital to explain the operational definitions of terminology used in this study, which are described below:
Ajami literacy entails writing in the vernacular using Arabic letters.
Educated people are those who have completed a postsecondary education.
Adult Literacy Background (ALB): Individuals whose parents or grandparents achieved adult literacy.
Ex-participants are those who have previously participated in a literacy program.
Islamiyya is an elementary school where Arabic, Islamic studies, and the Quran are taught and learnt.
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Jama’atul Nasril Islam is an Islamic educational body run by scholars, traditional rulers, and the current administration.
Advanced Islamic Schools: These are Islamic schools that are beyond elementary level.
Officials are government workers who oversee literacy development projects at various levels of government.
Community leaders are recognised and powerful members of a community who are often approached to persuade people to support people-oriented programs such as literacy development.
Constraints are often used terms for variables that impede progress in literacy development and are frequently referenced in literacy literature.
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