PROGRAMME · SINCE 1992
Adult and Non-Formal Literacy
Basic literacy, post-literacy and vocational classes in 30 centres and 640 community circles, taught in Hausa and English by the Kano State Agency for Mass Education. Free, evening and weekend classes, open to anyone over fifteen.
Thirty-eight adults in a hundred
The functional literacy rate in Kano State is 61.8 per cent. Put the other way round, close to two adults in five cannot read and write well enough in Hausa or English to follow a clinic instruction, read a contract, check a market price in writing or help a child with homework. The rate is lower among women than men and lower in the rural local government areas than in the metropolis.
That is a problem in its own right and it is also a drag on everything else the Ministry does. A parent who cannot read is less able to hold a school to account, less able to check what a child is being asked to pay, and less likely to keep a daughter in school through the transition years. Adult literacy is the oldest programme in this section, running since 1992, and it remains the quietest and one of the most useful.
The Agency for Mass Education teaches in the language the learner already speaks. Basic literacy is taught in Hausa; English follows at post-literacy, alongside numeracy that starts from the arithmetic of a market stall rather than from a syllabus. Classes run in the evening and at weekends, in school buildings, community halls, mosque annexes and market association rooms, because an adult learner has a day's work to do first.
Reach and cost
61.8%
Functional literacy
Adults, State-wide
74,000
Learners enrolled
More women than men
670
Centres and circles
30 centres · 640 community circles
₦0
Cost to a learner
Including the primer and the certificate
The three levels
A learner joins at the level a short placement conversation puts them in, not necessarily at Level 1. Each level runs for about nine months of evening or weekend classes.
| Level | What is taught | Language | Length | What it leads to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Literacy Level 1 | Basic literacy: the alphabet, reading, writing, and numbers up to everyday market arithmetic. | Hausa | About 9 months | Level 2, and the ability to read a notice, sign a name and check change. |
| Literacy Level 2 | Post-literacy: fluent reading and writing, English introduced, functional numeracy including measurement, weights and simple accounts. | Hausa and English | About 9 months | Level 3, or a vocational class alongside. |
| Literacy Level 3 | Continuing education: comprehension, letter and form writing, records and accounts for a small business, civic and health literacy. | Hausa and English | About 9 months | The Adult Literacy Certificate, a vocational class, or return to formal schooling. |
| Vocational class | A practical trade taught alongside or after the literacy levels: tailoring, catering, soap and cosmetics, leatherwork, poultry, phone repair, solar installation. | Hausa | 3 to 12 months | A trade, a starter kit, and referral to the small business support window. |
How to join a class
There is no entry test, no age limit above fifteen, no form to buy and nothing to pay at any stage. A learner may join at any point in the year.
Find the nearest centre or circle
There is an adult learning centre in every zone and a community circle in most wards, often meeting in a primary school after hours. Ask at any local government education office, at the primary school nearest you, or call the Ministry.
Speak to the facilitator
A short conversation, not a test, establishes what the learner can already read and count, and which level to start at. A learner who can read Arabic script but not Roman is common and is placed accordingly.
Choose the class time
Most circles run two or three evenings a week, or on a weekend morning. Women's circles frequently meet in the late morning instead. The facilitator will fit the learner to a group that meets when they can attend.
Collect the primer and materials
The primer, exercise books and a pen are issued free at the first class. There is no charge for materials at any point in the programme.
Attend, and be assessed at the end of the level
Assessment at the end of each level is done by the facilitator against a published standard. A learner who is not ready repeats the level without penalty.
Sit the Adult Literacy Certificate
At the end of Level 3, in October, at one of 96 centres. Four papers, no entry fee, and the certificate is issued by the Agency for Mass Education.
Women's circles, and why they are separate
Rather more than half of the learners in the programme are women, and most of them learn in a women's circle with a female facilitator, meeting in the late morning between the day's work. That arrangement is not a concession; it is what makes the numbers happen. A mixed evening class in a ward where women do not go out after dark reaches no women at all.
The circles are also where the programme connects to everything else. A woman who becomes literate at thirty-five is markedly more likely to keep her daughter in school through JSS 1, to bring a child for immunisation, and to enrol in a vocational class afterwards. The Agency tracks the last of those directly: about a third of women completing Level 2 go on to a trade.
- 640 community circles, most of them women's circles with a female facilitator.
- Meeting times set by the group, not by the Agency.
- Childcare arrangements agreed within the circle so attendance is possible.
- A vocational class offered alongside from Level 2 onwards.
Who the programme is for
Anyone aged fifteen or over who lives in Kano State. There is no upper age limit and no requirement to have been to school before.
- Adults who never attended school.
- Adults who attended briefly and did not become literate.
- Young people who left school and are now past school age.
- Women who wish to learn in a women's circle with a female facilitator.
- Traders and artisans who need functional numeracy and record-keeping for a business.
- Nomadic and pastoralist families, taught through mobile facilitators on a seasonal timetable.
- Learners preparing to return to formal schooling through continuing education.
Questions asked about the classes
Does it cost anything?
I am fifty-two. Am I too old?
What if I can read Arabic but not English or Hausa in Roman script?
Can I learn a trade at the same time?
Can I return to formal school afterwards?
Where are the classes held?
How is the programme measured?
Join a class
Classes are free, run in the evening and at weekends, and accept new learners at any point in the year.