Rochas Foundation Budgets N1bn For Out Of School Kids
BY EDMOND ODOK, ABUJA – The Rochas Foundation is set to battle the worrying out of school children challenge in the country with a one billion Naira funding proposal.
The budgeted amount will finance a new project called “Rochas Foundation Education Aid and Development (READ) programme” to be launched in 2020.
READ project is being packaged to provide vulnerable and poor Nigerian kids with opportunity to be in school and become productive in future.
Director General of the Foundation, Ms Ucy Rochas, said at a media briefing in Abuja on Wednesday that the programme’s implementation will be in collaboration with credible Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) working in various communities across the country.
According to her, over 10 million children out of school in Nigeria primarily due to poverty, lamenting that instead of education and its benefits, these vulnerable children are engaged in street trading to help themselves and their families survive the harsh economic climate in the country.
She said the Rochas Foundation is therefore proposing a N1 billion budget for the programme to be “disbursed through NGOs who are found to be credible to help pursue this cause in their various localities where they exist.”
Recalling that the Federal Ministry of Education recently expressed worry over this ugly situation and the frantic efforts being made to address the problem, Ms Rochas said; “The Foundation, during the 2020-2021 timeframe, will partner with the Ministry of Education in this regard.
“It is for this reason that we shall launch this READ which encourages volunteerism and to pick these children out of the streets, providing them with education wherever they may be found in Nigeria.”
The Foundation boss however appealed to other well-meaning, groups and agencies in Nigeria to assist government in the fight, warning that 10 million out of school children portend grave danger for the nation going forward.
She stated that the new initiative, kicking off in year 2020, is targeted at getting 10 million indigent kids off the streets and into schools, noting that; “Recent statistics show that there are about 10 million out of school children in Nigeria, an alarming situation that calls for urgent action to get illiteracy to its barest minimum.
“This is why Rochas Foundation is leading efforts to get these children not only into school, but with the needed aids and support.” Among the steps to be taken by the Foundation include giving grants to 1,000 indigenous foundations currently impacting positively on the nation’s education sector.
The Director General said the move is part of the Foundation’s drive to “make education a right for all irrespective of age, sex, ethnicity and religious beliefs.”
On the Foundation’s university scholarships, Ms Rochas, who revealed that a total of 15 students from Nigeria and other African countries would benefit from the scheme from next year, said; “By 2023, the Rochas Foundation will be sponsoring 10 students per state, the brightest children who made the best results in JAMB to study in Nigerian universities, and 5 from every African country.” She however explained that graduates from Rocha’s schools will not be part of the beneficiaries of the new scheme.
Giving insights on the Foundation’s achievements in the education sector, Ms Rochas said over 20,000 children have so far benefited from its free education scheme since its inception over 20 years ago.
Further disclosing that the Foundation has produced about 2,000 university graduates with over 4,000 still undergraduates, she admitted that the major challenge now is getting jobs for the graduates.
For her, the Foundation cannot deal with this challenge alone, adding; “That is why we are calling on partners, stakeholders and government to be part of what we are doing.”
She however assured that the Foundation will not renege in its avowed commitment to giving most of its beneficiaries, who are orphans and the poorest of the poor, improved livelihood and hope of a better life.
