Nigeria: Imo Eda Project Records Giant Strides in Tackling Illiteracy, Organises Free Science Bilingual Training, Donates Materials to Indigent Students

By Gbolahan Adeniyi.

Statistics have shown that about 31% of Nigeria’s population is illiterate. This is not encouraging as Nigeria is home to diverse groups of people with relations in different spheres of life. Also, the world has changed in ways that science has become necessary for everyone, not just a privileged few, and scientific literacy has proven to be the surest way to encourage a culture of scientific inquiry and experimentation, leading to the development of new technologies and solutions to local challenges.

For Nigeria to have reasonable development that will transform it into a 1st world country, a public grassroots foundational understanding of science is necessary and, to build a good foundation in science knowledge, the language used in teaching science is an ingredient for development.

According to UNICEF, science illiteracy is a significant obstacle to health literacy. It influences people’s capacity to make health-related decisions, which results in reduced life expectancy, increased infant mortality, and the spread of preventable diseases.  Science and technology continue to play a central role in the drive to build a sustainable society. This role is visible in the transformation of financial and educational services, and most recently in agriculture, where advances in scientific innovations are helping to address issues around plant disease and malnutrition, particularly in less developed countries.

Unfortunately, despite all the great contributions that science has made toward achieving sustainable livelihoods, Nigeria’s science development is still retarded, due to the misinformation and mistrust that stems from public ignorance and the inability of science teachers to teach in the Mother tongue. To advance innovation, there is a need for effective science literacy efforts in schools, which is the driving force behind the IMO EDA AMBASSADORS TRAINING.

IMO EDA AMBASSADORS TRAINING is a free training where secondary school students from low-income families are trained in Sciences using the Yoruba Language and English. This Free training provided a platform where students could engage with each other, science experts and their science teachers, through meaningful learning discussions based on sound scientific principles and promote biological information sharing in their Mother tongue.

Evidence clearly shows that a child learns best in their mother tongue. To maintain the positive effects of teaching and learning in the early years, the Mother tongue language should be sufficiently developed before any transition to second language instruction.

The Biology in Yoruba radio programme was launched in 2019 to advance science literacy as articulated in the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal number 17, which calls for equitable access to science, technology and innovation, particularly in less developed countries.

To end science illiteracy by teaching Biological sciences in bilingual Languages of Yoruba and English, following the UNESCO framework for 2030 that encourages the use of the mother tongue in teaching and learning, recognizing its importance for inclusive and equitable education. The radio programme targeted students from low-income families who only have access to the radio as a source of information. The radio programme airs on OluyoleFm 98.5, Oke-OgunFm 96.3 and AjileteFm 92.1 simultaneously on Fridays, with, the pioneer teacher of Biological sciences in Yoruba language, radio Host Moshood A. Abiola, and Co-host Samuel Ajayi-Waldorf, further breaking it down in simple layman English to scientifically expose students, teachers, parents and audiences who has no access to the four walls of classrooms.

Nigeria’s retardation in science development is a result of fundamental problems like the Unavailability of Laboratory Equipment and instructional materials, Inadequate Funds, Inadequate Teacher Quality and Teaching Methods, and inability to understand Difficult concepts in science.

Secondary school students in Nigeria cannot apply the science knowledge taught in their respective schools because most of the concepts are abstract when taught in the English Language.

While the Biology in Yoruba radio programme has impacted millions of listeners across Nigeria with students recording observable improvements in their Biology courses, with impact assessment totalling over 900, 000 active listeners since inception, the team, in their resolve to put an end to science illiteracy in Nigeria partnered with The Pollination Project Foundation, Brevard, NC.

The partnership birthed three days of free bilingual science training for students from four public secondary schools in Ibadan, with the provision of free training materials, including their feeding and transportation through the course of the training, cared for.

Additionally, the student training was held using the most eco-friendly materials to promote SDG goal 15. The students were trained to understand three biology topics, the Excretory system, the reproductive system, and Genetics in bilingual languages of English and Yoruba.

Also, the significance and application of these topics to their health, and daily lives are explained using the bilingual languages of Yoruba and English. The students are tasked to train other students from low-income families to achieve the goals of the training, one of which is training the next generation of scientists and innovators. This led to the successful training of over 80 students in total.

The Lead Trainer, Moshood A. Abiola and Co-trainer, Samuel Ajayi-Waldorf, have identified some concepts that are difficult for students and teachers in the science curriculum.
For example, concepts such as genetics, evolution, perspiration etc. in Biology; are often considered tough by some students so the trainers are providing the bilingual resources required to simulate these concepts for better comprehension.
 
In the words of the Lead Trainer, there are numerous prospects for science education development in Nigeria, but these prospects are crippled by lots of challenges which his team is trying to solve through partnerships with stakeholders in the educational sector.