Sadly, with the advent of the digital Information Age, we often forget that radio still has a critical role to play in communications and more specifically in education.
Radio is not only one of the oldest forms of mass communications, it is also the most far-reaching and under-utilized in Nigeria.
It is still often times the only method that millions of people have to receive important information and the benefits are many.
– In times of pandemic or other looming natural disasters, radio is the only gateway to reach millions of undigitized people in towns and villages across Nigeria.
– It is not limited by the availability of phone infrastructure
– It reaches the young and old, rich and poor equally
– It is often available in local languages thereby eliminating language barrier
– It is not costly or burdened by the high cost of digital data from phone companies
The list of benefits are many but most important of them all is the ability of radio to serve as a means of educating millions of Nigerian children who are out of school.
According to the the World Bank, Nigeria has 11 million of out-of-school children. These children mostly live in remote towns and villages with no access to the digital world. Even those who are in the more connected cities and towns cannot afford the luxury of digital communications. The good news though is that these children have not been cut off from radio waves; radio is instead is still the most reliable and far reaching mass communications method covering in Nigeria.
As the world celebrates world radio day, it is therefore a time to remember the importance of radio in children’s education.
More specifically, it is important for educators to explore the opportunities that radio has in reaching Nigeria’s 11 million out of school population.
*Dr. Aderonke Kujore (Addie Adelekan) is a philanthropist and the founder of the Children’s Leadership Initiative