The Secretary, Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC), Mr Louis Nwadinlo, has expressed displeasure with the high number of out-of-school children in the country.
He spoke on Sunday at the JDPC 2023 World Literacy Day program in Lagos with the theme, “Promoting Literacy for a World in Transition, Building the Foundation for Sustainable and Peaceful Societies”.
It was organised by the JDPC Surulere Deanery to educate children on the importance of literacy, forestall illiteracy in the society, and highlight initiatives geared toward the promotion of reading and writing.
The International Literacy Day, an international observance celebrated yearly on Sept. 8, was declared by UNESCO on Oct. 26, 1966 at the 14th session of its General Conference.
Nwadinlo said that the JDPC, through its scholarship scheme, had aided indigent pupils to acquire education, in its battle to reduce the level of illiteracy.
He described literacy as the ability to read, speak, build and to design, which promotes life living, improves the individual and benefits the community.
Also speaking at the event, JDPC Chairman, Surulere Deanery, Mrs Margret Olabisi-Mekwuye, said that the aim of the yearly program was to place premium on child education, to ensure no child was left behind in school enrolment and attendance.
She said the event was a global project that improved knowledge and information acquisition.
“It promotes democratic values, peace, health and well-being. It promotes life-long learning and builds skills,” she said.
The chairman said that the world would be much better when everyone got basic education, with ability to chart an ideal lifestyle for the benefit of the society.
She called on teachers to be alert to their duties in order to check the drift in the society.
Participants drawn from different schools in the area were taught expression, writing, courteous relations with others and troubleshooting as basics for literacy.
The children, grouped according to individual schools, outsmarted one another to answer impromptu questions to project their schools, and were offered writing materials as rewards.
Master Philip Dada, from the Global Decision College, Aguda, Surulere, said he was excited and glad to have attended the program.
He said that the program had made him to speak boldly in public.
JDPC is the social arm of the Catholic Church, with focus on people’s welfare and societal development through good governance.
