Research article

Tackling aliteracy, a major cause of mass failure among students in Nigerian secondary schools: any role for school libraries?

^*1Abimbola Margaret Olusola and ²Adeoye Moses Oladele

¹University Library, Samuel Adegboyega University, Ogwa, Edo State, Nigeria

²LAUTECH Medical Library, College of Health Science, Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria

*Corresponding Author E-mail: marg_abimbola@yahoo.com, m.abimbola10@gmail.com; adedelem@yahoo.com, Tel. 08038062272, 08127596571, 08037223812, 08052245615

Accepted 21 July, 2013

Abstract

In the last few years, failure in secondary schools certificate examination has become a recurring incidence in Nigeria. This scenario can be traced to aliteracy which is the ability to read but choosing not to do so. The governments at various levels, the parents, teachers, school librarians and indeed the students all have roles in putting an end to this menace. This paper seek to identify aliteracy among Nigerian students, examine the roles of school libraries and school librarians, teachers and other stakeholders in the joint task of reducing to the barest minimum and indeed putting an end to aliteracy and the consequent failure among the secondary schools in Nigeria.

Keywords: Library, Aliteracy, Secondary school