In a bid to address the alarming rate of out-of-school pupils in Lagos State, Corona Schools Trust Council has launched an initiative aimed at educating disadvantaged children in the state.

This was disclosed at the third cohort of Corona’s out-of-school initiative, aimed at improving education quality in public schools. The Chief Executive Officer of the council, Adeyoyin Adesina, disclosed that the programme, dubbed ‘Corona Connect,’ is targeted at out-of-school children and enhancing teacher quality through training.

She explained that under the initiative, each Corona School adopts a community school, with the goal of making a wider impact on the society. Already, she said about 75 children have been enrolled from the Ago Egun community, in the first phase of the programme, with plans to expand to other educational districts in future.

While restating the school’s commitment to education, Adeyoyin stated that as a non-profit organisation, Corona re-invests its resources to ensure continuous growth and improvement.

Chairman, Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LASUBEB), Dr Shittu Babatunde, who was represented by Amusat Omolaja, lamented the alarming number of out-of-school children in Nigeria.

He said while the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) puts the figure at 20 million, with Lagos accounting for two million, the state’s actual figure may be higher due to daily migration from other parts of the country. Babatunde lauded Corona Schools for the initiative, pointing out that educating all children benefits society as a whole.