As part of activities to mark the International Literacy Day today, Pearson Education Publishing Limited has donated 4,000 books and learning aids to Oando Foundation to boost the foundation's efforts of improving the literacy level in the country.

The foundation was launched in 2011 to support the federal government to achieve universal primary education, as well as to improve the quality of teaching and learning in Nigerian primary schools and communities by ensuring access to world-class basic education systems.

According to the UNESCO Education for All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report 2012, Nigeria has an astonishingly low literacy rate of 61 per cent and approximately 10.5 million primary school age children are out of school. This represents 14 per cent of the 70 million children out of school globally.

The Managing Director of Pearson, Mr. Muhtar Bakare, who presented the items, said the materials comprised science textbooks for primary schools, work books, teachers' guides and charts.

He said the company decided to donate the materials because the resources required to educate the over about 70 per cent of Nigerians that are below 30 are enormous and the government cannot do it alone.

Receiving the items, Director of the foundation, Tokunboh Durosaro, who commended the company for the donation, said the foundation would distribute the materials to all its 47 adopted schools in 20 states.

"We are extremely delighted that Pearson Education has donated learning aids, which will boost the learning outcomes in our adopted schools. This will also assist in eradicating the poor levels of literacy in Nigeria," she said.

To celebrate the International Literacy Day, she said the foundation would organise a 'Read2me' programme to engage children in the act of reading.

"The 'Read2me' initiative will be an interactive reading session involving volunteers and pupils at Oando Foundation's adopted schools. 'Read2me' is vital to the foundation's goal of cultivating a culture of reading in Nigerian schools," he said.