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Show of hands in support of literacy

In Ajingi local government area of Kano state, access to basic education is generally very poor. Men benefit more from any educational activity, and women only a little. Some of the contributing factors are: perceptions about religion, culture and traditional beliefs of the people.

IWEI holds literacy classes for women in 2 wards of Ajingi Local Government, Kano state:- Ungwar bai and Gurduba. However, it became noticeable that there was a gradual decline in the number of women attending the classes. The decline was from 87 women to a record low of 35 women.

IWEI held series of meetings with religious, traditional and youth leaders in Ajingi in order to understand what was affecting the attendance of women, and to gain their support for the literacy classes. Some reasons given by those present at the meeting included:

• Men feeling threatened by the women's newly acquired literacy skills which would mean improved social status for the women.
• Women might become less submissive to the men
• Distance to the literacy classes was an issue for some of the women.

IWEI resolved these issues by:

• Enlightening and seeking support of the men and youth including making them aware of the benefits to the men and their families if the women were literate.
• Involving the men in the decision making process for the literacy classes in order to gain their support.
• The assistance of the men was sought to resolve issues regarding infrastructure in the literacy classes. The men suggested and agreed to build simple structures for the women to hold their classes.
• The women were also reminded that becoming literate did not mean that they should try to lord it over their men; they should be respectful and treat their men well.

After a series of community meetings with traditional, religious and youth leaders held, the people agreed they must complete the following tasks in order to increase the literacy class:

-    Select communities where new literacy classes will be established

-    Build local classes (Adada) for new literacy classes using local building materials 

-    Encourage and support the women to attend the literacy classes

IWEI agreed to help by providing educational materials like blackboard, chalk, books and teachers in order to scale up literacy class in other communities.

An important lesson IWEI has learnt is the importance of involving men in activities involving the communities.