‘Rise in population of out-of-school children unacceptable’

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Members IA Foundation during a charity walk and education campaign from the National Stadium, Surulere to Yaba Bus Station... PHOTO: ENIOLA DANIELMembers IA Foundation during a charity walk and education campaign from the National Stadium, Surulere to Yaba Bus Station... PHOTO: ENIOLA DANIELMembers IA Foundation during a charity walk and education campaign from the National Stadium, Surulere to Yaba Bus Station... PHOTO: ENIOLA DANIEL

Members IA Foundation during a charity walk and education campaign from the National Stadium, Surulere to Yaba Bus Station... PHOTO: ENIOLA DANIEL

Canvasses 15% of Budget For Education

Founder, IA Foundation, Ibironke Adeagbo has said the rise in the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria is unacceptable and said that something must be done to reduce it.

She made the call yesterday during a charity walk and education campaign from the National Stadium, Surulere to Yaba Bus Station.

Adeagbo said: “The number of out-of-school children has increased by 100 per cent from last year and that is why we are on the streets of Lagos to raise awareness about the danger of that number, which is unacceptable; we cannot have the future generation of Nigeria roaming the streets. 20.2 million is 10 per cent of our population; we need to change the narrative.

“The government of the day needs to improve the economy to make sure that people are reasonably engaged. People are poor because they don’t have an education and have no skills to serve, so we must ensure that the next generation gets a good education and make sure that they are economically active. The fact remains that when poverty is reduced, insecurity will reduce and it will reduce the number of children that are out of school.”

Adeagbo explained that the foundation was established to reduce the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria. “We are currently sponsoring 100 out-of-school children, we picked them from the streets and we are catering for them up till secondary school. We are campaigning to get more students and we will pay their bursaries.

“We urge Nigerians to register any out-of-school student with us and we will pay and put them through school. If we have more NGOs doing a similar thing and the government has the political will to support our mission, I am sure that we will reduce the number of out-of-school children remarkably,” she said.

When asked about how much her foundation is putting into the programme, she said: “We are a UK-based charity organization, so we raise our funds in the UK and invest into the future of Nigeria. We are having our flagship fundraising event on March 18, 2023, and it will be an opportunity to raise more funds and repatriate to Nigeria to have more children in school. We are targeting at least 200 children yearly, picking them off the streets and putting them in school and paying for their fees.”

On his part, Programmes and Partnership Manager, IA Foundation, John Klutse said: “The number of out-of-school children will create a threat to the future of our nation. We need to invest in education as a nation and be serious. It’s time to come together and build our education system; there must also be political will and massive investment in the sector. If we have everyone contribute and put their heart to it, we can reduce the number of out-of-school children drastically.”