As the world marked International Literacy Day (ILD) Friday, adult education stakeholders in Murang’a south sub-county converged at the Kimorori adult education centre to create public awareness and celebrate the gains already made in the sector.
International Literacy Day is marked annually on September 8, and this year’s theme was promoting literacy for a sustainable and peaceful Kenyan society.
Speaking during the occasion that was preceded by a procession from Kagaa Market, the sub-county Adult and Continuing Education Officer Isaac Macharia underscored the need for every Kenyan to have the ability to read, write, speak, and listen so as to communicate effectively and make sense of the world.
“The government, through the ministry of education, has set up adult education centres countrywide because literacy is a matter of dignity, and this agenda has to be advanced for a more literate, peaceful, and sustainable society,” he said, adding that a literate person is able to participate more in development matters in a society.
We encourage those within us that are yet to achieve this milestone to enrol in an adult and continuing education centre near them,” urged Macharia.
One of the adult learners, a 56-year-old mother to her grown children, narrated how joining school, even at an advanced age, had transformed her life.
“I realised that in today’s society, technological advancement is being used in all sectors; if I go to the hospital, I must pay using my phone; previously, I would be forced to ask for assistance from random people nearby,” she said.
“And as a person passionate about farming, buying pesticides and using the correct measurements required that I know how to read, and that is why I decided to enrol in an adult education sector, because at times I would be sold pesticides that had expired owing to my inability to read,” she added.
The programmes that the adult learners are taken through include basic literacy, where learners are taught how to read and write in a language of the catchment area; postliteracy; and adult and continuing education for people who dropped out of school at whatever level, whereby they are eventually enrolled for national exams, be they the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) or the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).
Currently, Murang’a South has 300 adult learners, with 24 of them having been registered for KCSE this year. Additionally, 10 learners will be sitting for KCPE.
In adult and continuing education, the learners also carry out income-generating activities like making detergents, baskets, ropes, and other life skills.
The function was also attended by the area Assistant county Commissioner, Alex Wainaina.
By Florence Kinyua
