United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has said that it is adopting the use of smart phones rather than classroom, for its literacy programme.
Mr. Yao Ydo, UNESCO Regional Director for West Africa, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja.
Ydo said that with the old classroom teaching approach, women in the rural areas did not have the time to attend because they had so many engagements at home.
He said that the introduction of the smart phones would afford the beneficiaries the opportunity to learn at their convenience and thereby increase literacy in the country.
He noted that the previous classroom approach was easier for kids because adults do not have that patience.
“When you go to the rural areas, women do everything at home; they are the ones that take care of the family; they are the ones that go to the market to sell.
“Their days are so full they don’t have time to seat in the classroom.
“So, we have realised that we have to change the approach of the literacy programme.’’
Describing the use of smart phones as “learning meets learners’ approach’’, Ydo explained that instead of “the learners going for learning, the learning will go and meet the learners and we see that smart phones is the best way.
“In the rural areas, people have smart phones and they can easily get it; we are going to use this device for education.’’
Ydo further suggested that learning modules should be put on phones to train people in English or any other language because of the high demand.
He noted that ICT methods were the available tools to respond to the high demand of adult education in the country.
The regional director identified the lack of content as another challenge in improving literacy in the country, saying that most curriculum contents are outdated.
He stressed that through literacy, rural dwellers would be able to know the reasons for the change in the climate pattern.
Literacy, he further said, would also enlighten them that some of their activities were the leading causes of the climate change phenomenon and what they could do to reduce the effects.
Ydo said that illiteracy remained the biggest problem in Africa, adding that when the problem was solved, the major issues of the continent would be solved.