CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
The place of radio for the purpose of education has been around for some time. The radio technology was developed in the 19th century and became an educational medium in the 20th century. Although according to Couch (1997) radio has been overshadow by television over the years but still remains a vital and viable medium for educational purposes in a large mass communication settings. Radio has the capacity to deliver quality educational programs to large audiences in an expanded geographical expanse and at a relatively low per unit cost (Couch, 1997). According to a studies conducted by UK Open University shows that when the radio technology is used as a supplementary learning tool for educational purpose. The Agency for International Development has revealed that it is more cost effective to use radio for educational purpose than teacher and textbook (Tripp and Roby, 1996). The use of radio as an educational tool cannot be disputed considering the cost effectiveness and the fact that it helps in improvising for materials that are lacking in a normal class room system (Muller, 1985). The radio can be listening to in the comfort and private of people’s homes which can provide the requisite knowledge for educational purpose.
Literacy and Nigeria
A recent USAID study also indicates that an estimated 10 million Nigerian children are not registered in school. A disclosure by a former Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, equally indicates that;
“The number of adults who cannot read and write in the country is estimated at 60 million, which is about 38% of the country’s population estimated at 170 million” (Daily trust, 13 2014)
The revelation was made by Wike at the flagging off of the 2014 International Literacy Day.
The declining fortune of literacy ratio among Nigerian children is, indeed, an embarrassment to the nation as we currently have over 10.5 million children out of school. The current Education for All, EFA, Global Monitoring report ranks Nigeria as one of the countries with the highest level of illiteracy. The EFA report on Nigeria affirmed that the number of illiterate adults has increased by 10 million over the past two decades, to reach 35 million (Hatch, 2015).
Technology Enhanced Learning for All (TELA)
The technology enhanced learning for all has made a significant change in the lives of people, especially in Nigeria. The Technology Enhanced Learning for All (TELA) is a program that seeks to help the less privileged kids to learn Literacy and Numeracy with the use of Radio. TELA is a project of the American University of Nigeria in collaboration with the United State Agency for International Development (USAID). The main aim of the project is to help the vulnerable kids of Adamawa state to learn the basics of Literacy and Numeracy, before the program started there was an Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) and Early Grade Maths Assessment (EGMA) that the kids took to make sure they are ready to learn.
Problem Statement
With the increasing rate of illiteracy and a more disturbing 10.5 million out of school children, the problem of literacy in Nigeria is indeed a major challenge. In the Northeast, the Boko Haram insurgency has made a bad situation worse because the insurgency has resulted in putting more children out of school. The intervention program by TELA in Adamawa State is like planting a tree in a desert and nurturing it to multiply. While such intervention is highly commendable our study tends to evaluate the performance of the children based on gender with regard to attendance and academic performance as perceived by selected instructor and anchors of the program. This will help in the clarification of an observation that girls outperform boys in both attendance and academic performance.
Research Objectives
To evaluate the performance of the children based on gender with regard to attendance and academic performance as perceived by selected instructor and anchors of the TELA program. Specifically, the objectives include:
- To identify the underlining reasons why girls performs better boys in EGMA and EGRA
- To identify the reasons why the attendance of girls is more than the boys
- To identify the elements in the program that motivate the girls to attend the program
- To identify the lesson learnt and how to support Interactive radio instruction for learning
Research Questions
- Why the female children perform better in the TELA Early Grade Maths Assessment (EGMA) and the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) over the males?
- Why are the female children participating more than the male children in the TELA Audio Program?
- What are the elements in the program that encourage stronger female participation of the program?
- What insights can be drawn from the TELA project to support Interactive Radio Instruction programs for girls?
