Chile students rally for free education - Americas - Al Jazeera English

Chile students rally for free education - Americas - Al Jazeera English

The Pioneers in Education (Nigeria).

Alvan Azinwa Ikoku

Alvan Ikoku easily ranks among the most outstanding educationists Nigeria has ever produced. He was born on August 1, 1900 in the small town of Amanaguwu in Arochukwu Abia State. He came from a wealthy merchant family and received good education.

Ikoku was educated at Government School and Hope Waddell College all in Calabar. In 1920, he got his first teaching appointment with the Presbyterian Church of Scotland at Itigidi and two years later became a senior tutor at St. Paul’s Teachers’ Training College, Awka, Anambra State. It was while at Awka that Ikoku earned the University of London degree in philosophy in 1928 through private correspondence. Ikoku established his own, the Aggrey Memorial College, Arochukwu in 1931. He named the institution after James E.K. Aggrey, the eminent Ghanaian educationist.

Following the constitutional changes in 1946 which allowed for more Nigerians in the legislative chambers, Ikoku was nominated to Eastern Nigeria House of Assembly. He was assigned to the ministry of education. In 1947 he went to the Legislative council in Lagos as one of the three representatives of the Eastern Region.

In government, Ikoku exerted his influence to foster the interest of the NUT and promote education. He was instrumental to the legislative council’s acceptance of 44 of NUT’s proposals for amendments to various educational ordinances.

Ikoku worked for the introduction of uniform education in Nigeria through the NUT. The union made recommendations for the uniformity of education in Nigeria but the colonial government rejected them. Ikoku and his union were vindicated after independence when the recommendations became the foundation of official policy on education.

Ikoku served on various educational bodies in the country. He was a member of WAEC and the council of the University of Ibadan as well as chairman, board of governors of the Aviation Training Centre. In 1965 Ikoku was awarded an honorary degree of doctor of law at a special convocation of the University of Ibadan in recognition of his contributions to the growth of the university. He died in 1971.

 Henry Rawlingson Carr

Carr was the first student of Fourah Bay College, Sierra Leone to obtain an honours degree and the first African resident commissioner of the colony of Lagos. Carr was the son of a Sierra Leonean emigrant of Yoruba extraction. He was born on August 15, 1863 in Lagos. He attended St. Paul’s School, Breadfruit and Olowogbowo Wesleyan Elementary School in Lagos. He went to Sierra Leone for his secondary education which he received at the newly opened Wesleyan Boys’ High School, Freetown.

In 1877, Carr entered Fourah Bay College and obtained a bachelor of arts degree in Mathematics and Physics in 1882. He left for Britain and enrolled at Lincoln’s Inn, St Mark’s College in Chelsea and the Royal College of Science in South Kensington, London.

After 12 years of academic pursuit abroad, Carr returned to Nigeria in June 1885 and was appointed senior assistant master at the Church Missionary Society, CMS, Grammar School, Lagos. He joined the civil service in 1889 as chief clerk and sub-inspector of schools for Lagos. The following year, he became the assistant colonial secretary for native affairs.

Carr returned to the department of education as provincial inspector, then a chief inspector of schools in Southern Nigeria and commissioner (Resident) of the colony of Lagos. He retired on August 1, 1924 at the age of 61.

Throughout his career, the main interest of Carr was education. Because he believed that education was a necessity for the development of the individual and the nation, Carr advocated that it should be a prominent feature in government programmes. His published works include Key to Locks’s Trigonometry, and The General Reports of Education in Lagos. In 1906, Carr received master’s of arts and bachelor of civil law degrees from Durham University and was honoured with companion of the Imperial Service in 1920 and Commander of the Order of the British Empire. He died on March 6, 1945.

Kenneth Onwuka Dike

A distinguished educationist, historian and university administrator, Kenneth Dike devoted his scholarship to promote African history as an essential element of African education.

Dike was born on December 17, 1917 in Awka, Anambra State. He was educated at Dennis Memorial Grammar School, Onitsha and Achimota College, Ghana as well as Fourah Bay College, Freetown, Sierra Leone. For his graduate and post-graduate education, Dike successively attended the University of Durham, the University of Aberdeen and the University of London, all in the United Kingdom.

His Ph.D thesis, Trade and Politics of the Nigeria Delta 1830-1890, was adjudged one of the greatest contributions to historiography When the work was eventually published in 1956, it marked a milestone in the appreciation of African history as seen through an African eye. His other works included Reports on the Preservation and Administration of Historical Records in Nigeria, A Hundred Years of British Rule in Nigeria, and The Origins of the Niger Mission.

In 1956, Dike was made a professor of history at the University of Ibadan and became the first Nigerian to head the institution . He successfully Africanised the history department and reformed the curriculum to create a truly African approach to the teaching of African history. He initiated a lot of scholarly research projects, the results of which made Ibadan history department famous for pioneering the new historiography in Africa.

After founding the historical society of Nigeria in 1956, Dike promoted the interaction of scholars to promote the proper study of history at all levels of education in the country. The collaborative efforts of the society, the history department and the West African Examinations Council, led to the birth of new syllabuses in African history for secondary schools in West Africa.

Eni Njoku

Born in November 6, 1917 in Ebem, Ohafia, Abia State, Eni Njoku was educated at Ebem Primary School and attended Hope Waddell Training Institute, Calabar between 1933 and 1936. He went to Yaba Higher School (now Yaba College of Technology) Lagos in 1937.

Njoku studied botany at the University of Manchester in England. He graduated with a first class honours degree in 1947 and obtained his M.A. degree the following year. In 1954, he obtained his doctorate from the University of London.

When he returned to Nigeria, Njoku took up teaching appointment at the University of Ibadan as a lecturer. Later he became a senior lecturer and then professor. He was head and dean of the faculty of science. He was chairman of the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria in 1956. In 1962, he became the first vice-chancellor of the University of Lagos. Following a major crisis in 1965 over his re-appointment, he resigned and became a visiting professor at the Michigan State University, USA In 1966, Njoku was made the vice-chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka where he remained till the outbreak of the civil war in 1967.

Njoku served on the boards of the Commonwealth Scientific Committee, the United Nations Advisory Committee on the Application of Science and Technology as well as the UNESCO Advisory Committee in Natural Sciences. He also served in the councils of the Universities of Zambia and Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo). He wrote several books and articles in international journals. He received the honorary D.Sc. degree from the University of Nigeria in 1964, and in 1966 Michigan State University conferred on him an honorary doctor of laws degree and in 1973 Unilag awarded its first vice-chancellor an honorary D.Sc. degree.

Tai Solarin

Tai Solarin established the famous Mayflower School, Ikenne, Ogun State in 1956. Solarin was assumed to have been born on August 20 1922 at Ikenne. He attended St. Jame’s School, Iperu, Wesley School, Ogere, Ogun State, Otapete Wesley School, Ilesha, Osun State and Wesley College, Ibadan. He received his university education between 1956-66 at Manchester University, England, and University of London. In 1952, Solarin became the principal of Molusi College, Ijebu Igbo, a post he held till 1956 when he became the proprietor and principal of Mayflower School.

Solarin published several books, including Towards Nigeria’s Moral Self-Government, Thinking with You, A message for Young Nigerians andTo Mother With Love. Though he held various public posts at various times, he remained committed to the sustenance of academic excellence in Mayflower School.

David Adamu Baikie

Born on October 2, 1931 in Zaria, Kaduna State, David Adamu Baikie was educated at Holy Trinity School, Kano, Holy Trinity School, Lokoja, CMS Middle School , Wusasa, Zaria, St. Peter’s College, Zaria and the Nigeria College of Arts, Science and Technology, Zaria, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA and obtained B.Ed, M-Ed and D.Ed degrees. Between 1951 and 1952, he served variously as teacher, assistant headmaster and headmaster in Gusau and Zaria. In 1964, he became an assistant lecturer at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and became a professor of education in 1971. Between 1971 and 1974, he was the dean, faculty of education, ABU.

In 1978, Baikie became the vice-chancellor, University of Benin and returned to ABU in 1988. The following year, he was appointed vice-chancellor, University of Maseru, Roma, Lesotho. He is a member of the Association of Education for Educational Communication and Technology and also member, Association for Teacher Education for Africa.

Samuel Tunde Bajah

A renowned science teacher, Tunde Bajah was born on April 24, 1934 in Warri, Delta State. He schooled at St. Andrew’s CMS School, Warri and Hussey College also in Warri. His university education was at the University of Ibadan where he obtained a B.Sc degree in chemistry. He attended the University of Dakota USA and holds M.A and Ed.D degrees.

Bajah started his teaching career as a chemistry teacher both at the International School, University of Ibadan and Hussey College, Warri. He later became a professor of science education and dean of education, Institute of Education, University of Ibadan. He belongs to the Royal Institute of Chemistry, UK and member Association of Science Education, USA. Bajah is also a member of the Science Teachers’ Association of Nigeria, STAN.

Chemistry students in Nigerian secondary schools are quite familiar with Bajah’s books which include Chemistry: A New Certificate Approach, Laboratory Exercises In Volumetric Analysis. He also authored Primary Science for Nigerian Schools, African Science: Facts or Fiction.

Aliu Babantunde Fafunwa

In so many ways, Babatunde Fafunwa has given a lot to education in Nigeria. He has been a teacher at both the secondary and tertiary levels of education. He has helped in the formulation of education policies and also published books and articles in his

chosen field of endeavour.

Born on September 23, 1923 at Isale-Eko Lagos, Fafunwa attended Ahmadiyyah School, Lagos and CMS Grammar School also in Lagos before proceeding to Bethune-Cookman College, Florida, USA and New York University USA. In 1950, he became an instructor, English and Social Studies. Between 1951 and 1955, he worked at the United Nations Secretariat as area specialist and assistant Nigerian liaison officer at the British Embassy Washington DC.

Fafunwa returned home in 1956 to become senior tutor, Ahmadiyyah College, Agege Lagos. He joined the University of Nigeria Nsukka as a senior lecturer in 1961 and later headed the College of education Fafunwa has been honoured internationally. He became a recipient of Franklin Book Award for outstanding contribution to educational development, New York in 1973. And in the same year Teachers’ Colleges Columbia University awarded him Distinguished Service Medal. In 1982, New York University gave him Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award.

The two universities where he made immense contributions in teaching and administration have also honoured him. In 1987, UNN awarded him honorary doctor of laws degree, Hons. LL.D and OAU followed suit in 1987 conferring on him honorary doctor of letters, Hon. D,Litt.

A former minister of education, Fafunwa has engineered a number of policies and programmes for the development of education in Nigeria. He is well remembered as an advocate and specialist of mother tongue education. His published works include: New Perspectives in African Education, History of Nigerian Higher Education, History of Education in Nigeria, African Education: A comparative Study, among others.

For three years, 1976-79, Fafunwa was the chairman Lagos State Teaching Service Commission and at the same time, chairman of Think-Tank, a National Policy Development Centre. In 1984, he was appointed chairman Federal government study group in funding of private education and four years later chairman of National Primary Education Commission. At various times, he served as chairman and pro-chancellor and chairman of council, University of Calabar.

At the international level, Fafunwa also made his mark in education administration. From 1965-67, he was co-chairman, African Primary Science Programme, Kenya Commission on Teachers and member Sierra Leone Commission on Higher education, 1969-70 and president Association for Teachers’ Education in Africa, 1971-73. In 1983, he became a distinguished fellow international council on education for teaching, Washington DC, USA and became its vice-president in 1985.

Grace Alele –Williams

In 1985, Grace Alele-Williams became Nigeria’s first female vice-chancellor when she was appointed to head the University of Benin. Alele-Williams was born in Warri, Delta State on December 16, 1932 and attended at Government School Warri and Queen’s College, Lagos. She attended the University College (now the University of Ibadan), University of Vermont, USA and University of Chicago also in USA.

Her teaching career started at Queen’s School, Ede Osun State, where she was mathematics master from 1954 to 57. She left for the University of Vermont to become a graduate assistant and later assistant professor. Between 1963 and 65, Alele-Williams was a post doctoral research fellow, department (and institute) of Education, University of Ibadan from where she was appointed a professor of mathematics at Unilag in 1976.

By serving in various committees and boards, Alele-Williams had made useful contributions in the development of education in Nigeria. She was chairman curriculum review committee, former Bendel State 1973-79.And from 1979-85, she served variously as chairman in Lagos State Curriculum Review Committee and Lagos State Examinations Boards.

Alele-Williams was a member of governing council, UNESCO Institute of Education. She is also a consultant to UNESCO and Institute of International Education Planning. For a decade, 1963-73 she was a member, African Mathematics Programme, Newton, Massachunsetts, USA. She was also vice-president World Organisation for Early Childhood Education and later president of the Nigerian chapter. Alele-Williams has published a book modern Mathematics Handbooks for teachers. published a book Modern Mathematics Handbook for Teachers.

Dennis J. Slattery

Dennis Slattery, a Catholic priest is a pastor of souls. Slattery came to Nigeria at the invitation of Leo Taylor, then Archbishop of Lagos, only two years after his ordination. He was 5 years old. Slattery belongs to the Society of African Missions, SMA . In 1942,

he was posted to St. Gregory’s College Obalende, where, for two years, he taught English language, Latin, football and athletics.

In 1943, Slattery was appointed editor of the Catholic Herald. In 1956 Slattery was invited back to the classroom. This time, he was specifically charged by Taylor to establish a secondary school In Lagos. Thus Slattery founded St. Finbarr’s College, a technical grammar school in January 1956. For him, it was an opportunity to make a big contribution to the Nigerian society not only as an educationist but also a sports administrator.The new school came with an innovation in that it played a dual role of being a technical and grammar school.

Born on February 16, 1916 into a family of eight children in Fermoy, Cork, Ireland, Slattery has become more of a Nigerian. He speaks Yoruba fluently. Now almost 84 years, Slattery devoted his active life to the training of young Nigerians in academics and sports.

Gabriel Osawaru Igbinedion

Gabriel Igbinedion started his working life as a teacher in Benin divisional council and was later appointed adult education assistant. He later joined the police force from which he resigned to go into private business.

After succeeding in business, he has invested a lot of resources in the development of education. Igbinedion International School has become a famous secondary school. He has now added a university.

Born on September 11, 1934, at Okada, in Edo State, Igbinedion was educated at Benin Baptist Primary School and Eko Boys, High School.

If all this men weren't educated we won't have been mentioning there names and  referring to them as the pioneer of education in Nigeria. That was the reason why we have to put heads and hands together to help the underprivileged ones of this generation.

Raise a Child Today its all our concern as a citizen of this great nation.

God bless Nigeria.

The Torch-Bearers of Nigerian Education.

The story of formal education in Nigeria reads like a relay race. From the hands of the missionaries the school system has passed to Nigerians. But the change of baton did not happen overnight. It was a slow-grinding process spanning more than a century.

At the dawn of the 20^th century, western education was already entrenched in the whole of Nigeria. However, it was more noticeable in the Lagos colony and the southern protectorate than in the northern protectorate where Islamic education was more widespread. In fact the northern Emirs did not encourage Christian missionaries to set up schools in their domain.

Education was purely a tool for evangelization and the Christian missions made no pretence about it. Their primary aim was to convert and also train Nigerians who would facilitate the spread of the gospel.

The colonial government gave the missions a free hand in the running schools. The colonial government first showed interest in education through the provision of grants-in-aid to secondary schools and scholarships.

Education was entirely British. British history and value systems were taught in Nigerian schools. African traditions and culture were considered unfit to be incorporated in the school curriculum.

But before independence in1960 Nigerians who were products of the British colonial education system began to challenge the colonial education policies. These educationists questioned the inherent anomalies in the colonial system of education.

By 1955, Alvan Ikoku, president of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, led the union to demand for a uniform education system for Nigeria. It was turned down by the colonial government. When Kenneth Dike wanted to use oral tradition in his research for Ph.D thesis he was refused but he didn’t give up. When he finished his work it opened a new vista in historiography.

WHY DO YOU NEED TO RAISE A CHILD TODAY?

Governments around the world, particularly those in developing countries, face significant educational challenges.  Today, about 77 million children from the developing world are not enrolled in school and most children who complete school find they are not sufficiently prepared for the world of work.  A number of governments have responded to the twin challenges of getting and keeping more children enrolled in school, while simultaneously ensuring that learning outcomes improve, by introducing policies that emphasize choice, managerial autonomy and accountability for results. 

Around the world, there are still over 100 million children out of school, including 58 million girls. Despite overwhelming evidence that education can halt the spread of AIDS, increase economic growth and break the cycle of poverty, donor support for education has only increased modestly since 2000, when world leaders unanimously endorsed Universal Basic Education (UBE) by 2015.

The goal of Education for All is to provide universal access to primary education throughout the world. To accomplish this goal, as many as 10 million classrooms will be built in developing countries.

Education for all means learning for all. It means closing the “advantage” gap - making sure that the children of the poor and disadvantaged achieve the same levels of learning as all other children. This is one of the great challenges any country can face.

But we all have to fight hard to get rid of all this, and the way or steps we can take to get rid of it is to raise just a kid in your locality/environment.

Child Education © UNICEF Nigeria.

Education

© UNICEF Nigeria/2005/Jaulmes

Primary school pupils in class

Over the last decade, Nigeria’s exponential growth in population has put immense pressure on the country’s resources and on already overstretched public services and infrastructure. With children under 15 years of age accounting for about 45 per cent of the country’s population, the burden on education and other sectors has become overwhelming.

Forty per cent of Nigerian children aged 6-11 do not attend any primary school with the Northern region recording the lowest school attendance rate in the country, particularly for girls. Despite a significant increase in net enrollment rates in recent years, it is estimated that about 4.7 million children of primary school age are still not in school.

Increased enrollment rates have also created challenges in ensuring quality education and satisfactory learning achievement as resources are spread more thinly across a growing number of students. It is not rare to see cases of 100 pupils per teacher or students sitting under trees outside the school building because of the lack of classrooms.

This situation is being addressed by current efforts of the Nigerian Government with the implementation of the Basic Education scheme. The compulsory, free Universal Basic Education (UBE) Act was passed into law in 2004 and represents the Government’s strategy to fight illiteracy and extend basic education opportunities to all children in the country.

However the number of schools, facilities and teachers available for basic education remain inadequate for the eligible number of children and youths. This is more so in urban areas where there is population pressure. Under these conditions, teaching and learning cannot be effective; hence the outcomes are usually below expectation.

Another challenge in Nigeria is the issue of girls’ education. In the North particularly, the gender gap remains particularly wide and the proportion of girls to boys in school ranges from 1 girl to 2 boys to 1 to 3 in some States.

Many children do not attend school because their labour is needed to either help at home or to bring additional income into the family. Many families cannot afford the associated costs of sending their children to school such as uniforms and textbooks. For others, the distance to the nearest school is a major hindrance. Another cause of low enrolment, especially in the North, is cultural bias. Most parents do not send their children, especially girls, to school and prefer to send them to Qur’anic schools rather than formal schools.

Even when children enrol in schools, many do not complete the primary cycle.  According to current data, 30% of pupils drop out of primary school and only 54% transit to Junior Secondary Schools. Reasons for this low completion rate include child labour, economic hardship and early marriage for girls.

In the last few years, especially since the launching of the Universal Basic Education Act, much has been achieved in the reconstruction of dilapidated school buildings and construction of new ones, supply of desks and other needed furniture as well as the provision of toilet facilities.

However, the child friendly school concept, which UNICEF is advocating for, is not comprehensively adopted by the various States in Nigeria. A majority of primary schools, especially in rural areas, lack water, electricity and toilet facilities. For example, on average, there is only one toilet for 600 pupils in the primary school system. Despite political commitment to trying to reverse years of neglect in the education sector and a significant increase of the Federal funding, investment in basic education is still low compared to other Sub-Saharan countries.

For all these reasons, prospects of Nigeria achieving Education For All by 2015 remain frail.

Help Raise A Child's Education Today.

FG is committed to child education – Jonathan

FG is committed to child education – Jonathan

Rise in Care Applications in England

The annual number of applications from local councils in England to take children into care has exceeded 10,000 for the first time, data shows.

Figures released by the courts advisory service, Cafcass, show 886 care applications were made in March, taking the full figure for the year to 10,199.

At the same point last year, 9,202 care applications had been made.

The rise in care applications follows the publicity given to the death of Baby Peter in London in 2007.

Cafcass says applications received between May 2011 to February 2012 this year have been the highest it has ever recorded.

The current figure is 10.8% higher than the same period last year.

January 2012 saw the highest ever number of care applications recorded in an individual month, with 912 applications.

Chief executive of Cafcass, Anthony Douglas, said this was the first time care demand figures had broken the 10,000 mark over a 12 month period.

Continue reading the main story

CARE APPLICATIONS

• 2008/09: 6,488
• 2009/10: 8,832
• 2010/11: 9,202
• 2011/12: 10,199

Source: Cafcass

"These consistently high figures for the year have really tested the resilience of our staff and our systems, but we have continued to be a strong organisation that serves the best interests of children.

"While Cafcass gathers this information and is of course impacted by the scale of this increase, all agencies need to realise we have to change the way we work collectively if the most vulnerable children in the country are to continue to receive strong public services in these tough times.

"Having said that, this rise shows that all agencies are working more quickly to ensure that children are removed from deeply damaging households where many have been for some time and are showing a lower tolerance for poor parenting."

Cafcass chief executive Anthony Douglas: "We have become less tolerant of neglect, which is good for children"

Mr Douglas said figures from other UK nations indicated similar increases in the numbers of care applications.

Cathy Ashley, chief executive of the Family Rights Group said: "The care system is really struggling to cope with the rising numbers of care order applications.

"There are court delays, children bieng put in temporary placements or moved around with little notice, siblings are being split up and there is a significant shortage of foster carers.

"The closure of key early intervention and preventative services, such as refuge places for abused mothers, is worsening this terrible situation."

Ms Ashley called for more to be done early on to help members of children's wider families, for instance older siblings and grandparents, to take on the raising of children unable to live with their parents.

Baby Peter

There was a sharp leap in the numbers following the conclusion of the trial over Baby Peter Connelly death at the end of 2008, and they have continued to rise in the years since.

Seventeen-month-old Baby P, Peter Connelly, died after suffering more than 50 injuries in Haringey, north London, in August 2007.

The child's mother and two men were jailed for causing the death, while a series of investigations subsequently identified opportunities when officials could have saved him if they had acted properly on the warning signs.

The BBC's local government correspondent, Mike Sergeant, said the new figures did not indicate an underlying social deterioration but rather that councils were becoming more risk averse and were intervening more quickly when children were thought to be at risk.

My Question is?

How far do we care for our younger generation (Health and Education wise, Moreso in all areas of life)? We need to do something about it individually rather than begging government of our nation (Nigeria) to help. Lets help our children and care, support their vision and dreams..

The reason why am so passionate about this is that we don't owned anything in  this life, we just have access to it. Please lets make the children around us have access to Education.

Raise a Child today.

OUR FUTURE GENERATION.

Each and every one of us needs to rise up to the occasion of governing our mindset and that of the children around us so that we can lay a great blueprint for them to thread on.

Our government has failed us to some certain extent ‘Myles Munroe’ “said and I quote that democracy practiced in Nigeria and some other nations of the world are meant for the opportunist” what if you were not opportune to be in a great position in the society for the next 5-50years of the democracy era of our dear country Nigeria, what will you do to better this nation in its development.

As far as am concerned to development of a nation, Education should be a medium which should bring joy, fulfillment, and happiness to our younger ones.

Moreso, we need to change the orientation of these children now that they are still much younger that Nigeria is the best country amongst its entire counterpart. We also need to change the normal norms in which society view Education.

Elementary, College, University, probably PGD (Post Graduate Studies), then Master Degree, after all this we started hunting for a white collar job, please may I ask someone a question? Who will then be our researcher of those things we’ve not seen before or who will be the one to event that special thing that has never been done.

Please this is where we need you to start encouraging our young boys and girls in this direction so that they can bring a change to the norms of the society. Instead of hearing a pollute words that can make their mind/hearts go weary, they should be able to hear a seasoned and soul lifting word from us because they always look unto us for that lifting words.

Children watch and believe what you as a parent installed in their memory, when you tell them that do they know that they can for example build a machine that can write A,B,C.. Watchout before you know it you will see these kids working seriously to achieve what you have to talk about.

All this children are our future leader not only our future leader but the backbone of this great nation full with natural endowment, if a backbone is broken I bet you know the rest of the story, so therefore if a child failed in our locality, environment, society that automatically tells you and I that we have failed in our place of assignment.

I guess nobody want his/her biological son/daughter to fail in the place of their Education because we know how painful that might be after paying a huge sum of amount to finance their Education. The same thing applicable to the kids we see around us roaming and hawking on our street, the one’s their parent has left of dump before the caring people in the orphanage home picked them up or the one’s which their parent has said goodbye to this world.

They need our support, care and parental love, word of wisdom, word of encouragement, and word of hope for their future.

Let’s put our hands together and build a formidable future for these kids.

Raise a child today.

My Visit to Orphanage Home in Homes of Children in Karu, F.C.T. Abuja.

This Kids need Motherly and Fatherly Attention, care and Sound Education with Good Health majority of them are Intelligent and Smart, Sharp all they want from us is just for us to give them a helping hand in other to move up and climb the ladder to the top.

On my visit to the Children Homes in Karu, F.C.T. Abuja, Nigeria on the 6th of April 2012. I saw a boy (Name withheld) that sat somewhere looking very moody, sad and thinking, though I wouldn't know what he was thinking but the way he was looking and behaving was terrifying I had to move vvery close to him and started telling him some funny story but this kid refused to smile, I ask him that hope he knows that he can become the next President or Governor of his state/country in his generation, all he did was to node his head. I had to tickle him by the side and say some funny things before he smiled..Please Children of this age/generation need our help please we should not neglect them rather we should be passionate to help raise a kid the one's you see around you that needs a help, so that they won't be victim to us at the long run.

Child Education is real, Please Raise one today.

Me and my friends Visit to an Orphanage Home in Karu Abuja. F.C.T, Nigeria.

NGOs promote girl-child education in 12 schools in Bongo District

By William N-lanjerborr Jalulah

Mrs. Lucy Awuni, Dep. Upper East Regional Minister

Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED), an international non-governmental organisation, and Master Card Foundation have launched a five-year partnership programme to support girl-child education in the Bongo District.

Within the period, the two bodies would increase girls’ access to education in one Senior High, eight Junior High and three Primary schools.

During the Launch of the programme at Bongo on Tuesday, the Executive Director of CAMFED, Mrs. Dolores Dickson, said her organisation would assist the beneficiaries of the programme with basic needs like uniforms, books and other learning materials to retain them in school, and bring accelerated benefits to them as individuals, their families and the communities.

She explained that the five-year programme had a vision to educate, protect, respect and value every child to grow well and have access to quality education.

The Chief Executive Officer of Master Card Foundation, Rita Roy, a donor partner to CAMFED, said she was looking forward to the success of the programme, and hoped the investment made would be used judiciously.

Launching the programme, the Deputy Regional Minister, Mrs. Lucy Awuni, said a Ghana Statistical Service survey in 2000, revealed that in Ghana it has been estimated that 42.6% of the population was illiterate, of which 50.2% were females.

She said the high rate of illiteracy in the country, especially, among women, was unacceptable, considering the serious implications on personal and national development.

This is because illiteracy has been proven to be associated with high maternal and infant mortality, poor nutrition and health, and the high spread of HIV/AIDS among others.

Mrs. Lucy Awuni reiterated that the greatest wish for all African countries, including Ghana, was to enhance access and equity in educational opportunities for every child of school going age, and create adult education for both men and women.

She said, if all children of school going age could be admitted to school from kindergarten and stay on to complete, at least the basic level of education, they could grow into literate adolescents.

The Deputy Regional Minister further stated that if such adolescents are provided with further educational opportunities in vocational or technical training, they would be equipped with productive skills, and develop into full functional literate adults.

Mrs. Lucy Awuni cited finance as the most common reason for female dropout of school, and was of the hope that the launch of the partnership of CAMFED and the Master Card Foundation with the Assembly would help bring relief to girls who drop out of school after completing basic education.

The District Chief Executive (DCE) of Bongo, Clement Akugri Tia, revealed the programme’s support for 12 schools in the district, and hoped all schools in the district would be brought onboard by the end of the five years.

Mr. Clement Akugri Tia stated that the launch of the programme would be meaningless, unless it succeeds in the district. He, therefore, entreated the District Director of Education to particularly, embrace the programme and ensuring the interplay of commitment, dedication, transparency and accountability at all times.

The Deputy District Director of Ghana Education Service (GES), Mr. Louis Asakia, entreated beneficiaries of the programme to stick to their studies for the realisation of the vision and mission statement of the programme.

Please let us try and emulate what our brother AFRICAN Countries are doing in raising the hope of  their children, ward and our brother and sister so that they can take their position as a leader in the future to come..

Come join me raise a child today and you will see the benefit tomorrow..