8th September, 2011
Lagos State Deputy Governor, Hon. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, has disclosed that the literacy level in Lagos State has reached 87% if compared on state by state basis, adding that the effort of the present administration in improving the standard of education is yielding the desired results.
Adefulire who was speaking at an event marking the 2011 World Literacy Day Celebration organized by the Lagos State Government in partnership with the United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF) and Ecole de Desssin in Lagos, said in the past years the Lagos State Government has been introducing policies and programmes towards the development of the education sector to combat illiteracy, ignorance and poverty among its citizens.
She noted that the improvement recorded in the education sector is commendable and traceable to these initiatives, one of which is the EKO Project, which she said the government will continue to pursue for the benefits of the future leaders
.“Presently, we have about 87.8% literacy level. That is not to say that we are satisfied. We are not relaxing at all as we are committed to achieving a 100% literacy rate and as a key aspect of our Ten-Point Agenda, we would continue to place education of our children as a priority which will include the implementation of the Child Rights Law that emphasizes “right to education of every childâ€, Adefulire added.
The Deputy Governor also said the State Government is fully committed and complying with the Millennium Development Goals No. 2 which is “Achieving Universal Primary Education for allâ€, by adopting a policy of “No Child is Left Behind†which is aimed at making basic education free, qualitative and compulsory for all children regardless of ethnic backgrounds.
Also at the event, the Deputy Governor together with 4,506 students broke the Guinness Book of Records for the largest assembly of students being read to by an adult.Hon. Adefulire and the students from Lagos State Schools read from a book for thirty six minutes breaking the old record of thirty-minutes and 3,650 students hitherto in place.
The Deputy Governor after reading from a story book titled: “Time changes yesterday†authored by Nkengi Koin, challenged the students to cultivate a reading culture and devote a minimum of two-hours daily to reading books and educative journals.
A representative of the Guinness Book of Records, Adetunwase Aderenle who confirmed the new record, said Lagos State will be entering the record books as the new owner of the largest reading audience in the world.An award to commemorate the achievement was presented to the Deputy Governor by the organizers of the event and Guinness Book of Records, to the delight of the students.
The event was attended by top government functionaries from Lagos State, the Publisher of Todays Woman, Adesuwa Onyenukwe, youth music sensation, Mochedda, and thousands of students from the public and private schools in the State